Eight former Indian naval officers who were earlier sentenced to death in Qatar now face prison sentences of “varying” lengths, India has said.

The men have 60 days to appeal the jail terms. Last month, a court in Qatar had commuted their death penalties.

Neither Qatar nor India have revealed the specific charges against the men.

But Financial Times and Reuters have reported, citing anonymous sources, that the men were charged with spying for Israel.

India, Qatar and Israel have not commented on this. The court orders in the matter have also not been made public. India has been issuing statements about the major developments in the case, which was seen as a diplomatic test for the government.

In a press briefing on Thursday, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the legal team of the men now have access to the court order commuting their death sentences, adding that it was a “confidential document”.

“What we can tell you, confirm to you is, that the death penalty has now been converted into varying prison sentences for the eight Indian nationals,” he said, adding that they have 60 days to appeal the judgement in the Court of Cassation, Qatar’s highest court. He did not disclose the quantum of the jail terms.