Pinoy gets death in Qatar for spying

Filipino has been sentenced to death while two others were meted life imprisonment for espionage and economic sabotage in atar, the epartment of Foreign ffairs F said yesterday.

F s p o e s m a n harles ose said the sentences were handed down on pril s.

lawyer assisted them thro gho t the lower co rt proceedings and the erdict was appealed before atar s co rt of appeals last ay , ose said.

ose did not identify the acc sed Filipinos b t said the one sentenced

to death was an employee of a state-owned company and two others were technicians in a military base.

“Our embassy will continue to extend assistance to them as long as necessary,” Jose said.

The Doha News said the Filipinos were reportedly accused of providing information to intelligence officials in the Philippines about Qatar’s aircraft, weaponry, maintenance and servicing records, as well as specific details about the names, ranks and phone numbers of staff members.

It said details about a major Qatari company’s investment projects and upcoming contracts were also leaked.

It was not the first time a Filipino was accused of espionage in a foreign country.

In 2005, former police colonel Michael Ray Aquino was arrested in the US in connection with an espionage case, and was extradited to the Philippines in June 2011.

Aquino was a key official of the defunct Presidential AntiOrganized Crime Task Force.