A day after International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Pakistan must review the death sentence for Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, Pakistan Prime Minister on Thursday welcomed the court’s decision not to set him free. Khan, in a tweet, alleged that Jadhav “is guilty of crimes against the people of Pakistan and the country shall proceed further as per law”. The former Indian Navy officer was sentenced by a Pakistani military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism”. The ICJ affirmed the former Indian Navy officer’s right to consular access and slammed Pakistan for denying this. And made it clear that Jadhav’s death sentence should remain suspended until Pakistan effectively reviews and reconsiders the conviction and sentence in the light of its breach of Article 36 – that is denial of consular access and notification. The ICJ’s verdict puts pressure on Pakistan by raising the bar for the next steps in Kulbhushan Jadhav’s due process as it rejected most of Pakistan’s arguments by a vote of 15-1. The ICJ said Pakistan has breached international law by denying Jadhav consular access and legal representation. The court verdict, in paragraphs 99-119, indicts Pakistan’s military court that does not allow for legal representation.
