Spy Jadhav refused to file review petition against death sentence: FO

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) of Pakistan on Wednesday said that Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav has refused to file a review petition under Pakistani law against the death sentence awarded to him.

Additional Attorney-General Ahmed Irfan and the FO’s Director-General of South Asia and SAARC Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri addressed a presser in Islamabad today.

The Pakistani officials disclosed that on May 20, Pakistan enacted the International Court of Justice Review and Reconsideration Ordinance, 2020 which permits reviews petitions within a certain period of time.

Under this ordinance, a review petition can be filed in the Islamabad High Court by a consular official of the Indian High Commission, or even by Jadhav.

Although, when on June 17 Jadhav was invited to file a petition for the reconsideration of his conviction he refused to file the petition.

Instead, he preferred to follow up on his pending mercy petition, Irfan said. He further said Pakistan has repeatedly written to the Indian High Commission to file the petition before the deadline.

“We hope India follows the due legal course and cooperate with the courts in Pakistan to give effect to the judgment of the International Court of Justice”, he said. He added that Pakistan has also offered a meeting of Jadhav with his wife and father as well.

In July 2019, the International Court of Justice’ (ICJ) ruled that India’s submission pertaining to the acquittal and release of Kulbhushan Jadhav could not be upheld.

According to the ICJ, the conviction and sentence of Kulbhushan Jadhav were not to be regarded as a violation of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention. The ICJ allowed India consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav and called on Pakistan to review and reconsider his conviction and sentence.

Jadhav was tried in a military court which sentenced him to death for espionage and subversive activities.

Commander Jadhav was an Indian Navy officer working for Indian covert agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). He was arrested on March 3, 2016, from Balochistan after he entered Pakistan from Iran.