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An Appellate Court in Qatar has commuted the death sentence of eight former Indian Navy personnel arrested in connection with an alleged case of espionage. In an official statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said it had noted the verdict of the Court of Appeal of Qatar. The detailed judgment, however, is awaited.
With the highest diaspora of citizens the world over, more than 9,500 Indians are currently in jails abroad. Three in every five are lodged in jails in the Middle East, and the third-largest population of prison inmates in the region is in Qatar.
According to data by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), more than 1.3 crore (1,36,01,780) Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), over 1.8 crore (1,86,83,645) Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), and as many as 3.2 crore (3,22,85,425) Overseas Indians stay in 210 countries.
In response to a question by Gulbarga BJP Lok Sabha MP Umesh G Jadhav, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, on December 8, stated that the number of Indian prisoners, including undertrials, in foreign prisons at present was 9,521.
He added that the number could be higher, as many countries don’t share information on prisoners on account of their strong privacy laws.
Where are most Indian prisoners lodged?
As many as 9,521 Indians are lodged in jails in 89 of the 210 countries where diaspora from the country is based. More than 62%, or almost 6,000, are lodged in the Middle East, followed by Asia. The highest number of Indian prisoners — 2,200 — are lodged in Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates at 2,143. Qatar has 752 Indian prisoners, Kuwait 410, Bahrain 310 and Oman 135.
In Asia, a little over 23% of the total 1,227 prisoners are in Nepal, 309 in Malaysia, 308 in Pakistan, 180 in China, 86 in Singapore, 59 in Bhutan and 47 in Bangladesh. In Europe, the majority of Indian prisoners are lodged in the United Kingdom – 278 – followed by 165 in Italy, 77 in Germany, 40 in France and 30 in Spain.
Indian Missions and Posts abroad closely monitor incidents of Indian nationals being jailed for alleged violation of local laws, according to the MEA’s Standard Operating Procedure. As soon as information about the detention or arrest of an Indian national is received by the Mission or Post, it gets in touch with the local Foreign Office and other local authorities to get consular access to such individuals.
MEA officials then ascertain the facts of the case, confirm Indian nationality, and ensure the welfare of such individuals in various ways, such as extending all possible consular assistance, assistance in providing legal aid wherever needed, and approaching local law enforcement agencies to complete judicial proceedings at the earliest possible.
Is legal assistance provided?
Indian Missions and Posts maintain a local panel of lawyers in countries where the Indian community is based in sizeable numbers. No fee is charged for the facilities extended by the Embassy. The Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF) is set up at Missions and Posts abroad to assist overseas Indian nationals in distress situations in deserving cases. The support extended under ICWF includes financial assistance for legal aid as well as travel documents and air tickets during repatriation.
What other steps do they take?
The government also follows up the issue of release and repatriation of Indian nationals in foreign prisons during consular and other consultations with countries, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar submitted in the Lok Sabha, replying to a question in July this year.
How many pardons or reduction of prison sentences have come through so far?
Quoting data from information shared by Indian Missions/Posts abroad, Jaishankar said since 2014, 4,597 Indian nationals have received pardon or reduction of their sentences by foreign governments due to efforts by the Indian Government through various channels. He added that some countries grant pardon or reduction of sentence to inmates of various nationalities from time to time but do not share the data with the countries concerned.
Is there a mechanism for exchange of prisoners?
India has signed Agreement(s) on Transfer of Sentenced Persons (TSP) with 31 countries under which Indian prisoners lodged in foreign countries can be transferred to India to serve the remainder of their sentence and vice-versa. These include Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, Estonia, France, Hong Kong, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom and Vietnam.
India has also signed two multilateral conventions on transfer of sentenced persons — the Inter-American Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad and Council of Europe Convention on Transfer of Sentenced Persons — under which sentenced persons of member states and other countries which have acceded to these can seek transfer of prisoners.
How effective have these agreements proven?
From 2006 till January 2022, according to the EAM, 86 prisoners were transferred under the TSP; these included 75 imprisoned Indians transferred to India and 11 foreign prisoners transferred to their respective countries.
