Appeals court rejects release of Filipinos accused of spying

A Doha Criminal Court (Court of First Instance) had recently sentenced a Filipino man to death and two of his compatriots to life imprisonment after they were convicted of espionage.

The three were also accused of engaging in “intelligence communication” with a foreign country for the purpose of harming Qatar’s national security.

The defence of the accused has requested the Court of Appeals to stop execution of the Criminal Court’s judgment and to release them considering that they have been in jail since five years.

In its judgment, the Criminal Court said the accused men had sent military and economic information related to the Qatar Armed Forces and a Qatari company to a second party. The information pertained to aircraft and tanks in addition to details of investment projects of a major company and its future contracts, according to the report.

Investigations revealed that the first accused provided the information for the benefit of a foreign country in a manner that could damage the state’s military and economic status.

The court said the first accused provided information about the Emiri Air Force and the military base as well as other sensitive information to his contacts. In return he received huge amounts (millions) in bribe from companies that operate in the same sector, the report said.

“Besides, he also obtained military information from the second and third accused, who were working as technicians in the Qatar Emiri Air Force,” the report added.