Pakistan to present evidence against Kulbhushan Jadhav in ICJ today

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court after he was convicted of espionage.

HAGUE (Dunya News) – Pakistan will today present substantial evidence against Indian navy commander Kulbhushan Jadhav in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) during a four-day hearing of the high-profile case of espionage.

The ICJ will resume the hearing in The Hague between India and Pakistan, allowing the opportunity to present their arguments in the case, amid a sharp spike in tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, after a suicide attack on an Indian military convoy last week and renewed fighting in restive Kashmir.

Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi asserted that a legal team would present Pakistan’s stance in the case and that Jadhav had already “confessed of committing terrorism in Pakistan.”

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court after he was convicted of espionage.

Earlier on Monday, Indian’s lawyers pleaded with the ICJ to order Islamabad free Jadhav by claiming that his military trial was a "farcical case" based on "malicious propaganda".

India insists Jadhav, 48, was not a spy and that he was kidnapped in Pakistan. New Delhi is now asking the ICJ – which rules in disputes between countries – to nullify his sentence and to order Islamabad to set him free.

"Considering the trauma he (Jadhav) has been subjected to over the past three years, it would be in the interest of justice of making human rights a reality, to direct his release," India’s lawyer Harish Salve told the judges.

"India seeks relief in declaring that the trial by the military court in Pakistan... hopelessly fails to satisfy even minimum standards of due process... and should be declared unlawful," he said, speaking at the Peace Palace, the ICJ’s headquarters in The Hague on Monday.

India’s joint secretary at its External Affairs Ministry, Deepak Mittal, told the court the proceedings against Jadhav in Pakistan were based on a "farcical case" and "malicious propaganda".

In 2018, the ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations decided to hold hearings in the case from February 2019.

India presented its arguments yesterday while Pakistan will present evidence today. Then India will reply on Feb 20 whereas Pakistan will make its closing submissions on February 21.

The ICJ is expected to provide its decision later this year, and it has clearly stated that it cannot perform the duties of a “Criminal Court of Appeal” and both parties can later submit a review appeal before domestic courts.

Moreover, they announced that the hearings will take place from February 18 to February 21.

In March 2016, Jadhav was arrested from Balochistan and later confessed of impersonating a Muslim identity under the name of Hussain Mubarak and inciting terrorism across Pakistan under the directives of RAW, the Indian military intelligence wing.

Two confessional videos were made by Pakistan s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in which Jadhav confessed that his activities for RAW mainly revolved around reportage on Pakistan s naval capacities, along with developments across the Makran Coast, interior Baluchistan, and Karachi.

He was also involved in meeting Baloch separatist groups and ensuring Indian support for their movements.

On April 10, 2017, he was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of "espionage, sabotage and terrorism."

In May 2017, the ICJ asked Pakistan to halt the execution of Kulbhushan.

Judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in a unanimous and binding decision that Kulbhushan Yadav must not be executed by Islamabad until they have had time to pass final judgement in the case.

However, India accused Islamabad of violating the Vienna Convention by failing to provide him with consular access, as well as breaking human rights law.

"Pakistan’s "story has always been strong on rhetoric and blurry on facts," India s lawyer Salve said, adding that consular access should be granted immediately.

Islamabad reacted coolly to the ICJ’s urgent order at the time to stay Jadhav’s execution, saying it "has not changed the status of commander Jadhav’s case in any manner".

Islamabad’s lawyers are to state their case today.