A public hearing is underway at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the case of conviction of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) proceedings would determine whether ICJ has jurisdiction to adjudicate a matter referred to it by India relating to the death sentence given to an Indian national, Kulbhushan Jadhav, in Pakistan. Pakistan claims Jadhav is a spy involved in espionage and terror activities in Pakistan.
The hearing, which will be held at the Peace Palace in The Hague, will be conducted in two phases with the ICJ hearing India’s observations in the first phase and Pakistan’s observations in the second.
Pakistan’s legal team is led by Attorney General Ashtar Ausuf. The team will focus on refuting all allegations levelled by India, exposing the involvement of Indian spy in espionage in Pakistan and also pointing out atrocities India was getting away with committing in India-held Kashmir.
The Indian team will focus their arguments on denial of consular access to Jadhav and “lack of transparency in the Pakistani military court,” the Indian daily further reported.
Monday’s hearing is being conducted days after India filed an application with the UN’s judicial body seeking the halt of the death sentence handed to Jadhav by Pakistan last month.
In its application filed with the ICJ, India accused Pakistan of violating the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, stating that Pakistan has repeatedly denied consular access to Jadhav.
India claims that by disallowing consular access to Jadhav, Pakistan has committed a violation of its commitments as enshrined in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR). India has further claimed that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he was involved in a business undertaking.
Jadhav was arrested on March 3, 2016, through a counter-intelligence operation in Balochistan’s Mashkel area for his involvement in espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan. He was sentenced to death by the Field General Court Martial in April this year.
