Pakistan Speaker says Army to contest spy' case in ICJ

Islamabad: Speaker of Pakistan National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has said that the government and Pakistan Army will contest the case against Kulbhushan Jadhav in the ICJ.

The Speaker said that it is time to be united instead of doing politics on the issue of a terrorist. He said legal points should be discussed, but there should be no politics on the issue of Mr Jadhav.

Mr Sadiq said that Pakistan will not take any dictation on the issue and take decisions as per its interests. “Pakistan will not take any dictation on the issue and it would do what would be in its interest,” he added.

He said a group of politicians were spreading desperation in the country, but Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will never resign on their demand.

On April 10, Mr Jadhav was sentenced to death by military court for spreading “terrorism” in the country. Pakistan Army had also released a confession video of Mr Jadhav admitting that he was responsible for espionage and terrorism offences in the country.

Pakistan Army said that Mr Jadhav was tasked by Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to organise subversive activities aimed to destabilise the efforts of law enforcement agencies to restore peace in the country.

The Indian government ultimately took the matter to the ICJ headquartered in The Hague accusing Pakistan of “farcical trial” in the matter of Mr Jadhav.

India contended that it was not informed of Mr Jadhav’s detention until long after his arrest and that Pakistan failed to inform him of his rights. India said Pakistan had committed “egregious violation” and repeatedly denied access to Jadhav in violation of the Vienna Convention.

The ICJ announced its verdict on May 18 pronouncing that Pakistan should not execute Jadhav until final decision of the court, and that he should be granted consular access.

Separately, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria said Pakistan was evolving a strategy to forcefully plead its case against Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav in the ICJ.

The spokesperson said that Pakistan had a strong case as Kulbhushan Jadhav had confessed that he was a serving Indian naval officer and involved in numerous subversive activities in Pakistan as a RAW agent.

Earlier, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said the ICJ cannot nullify Indian spy Kulbushan Jadhav’s death sentence.

“Jhadav confessed to carrying out terrorist activities inside Pakistan and was a naval officer using a fake passport. He was sentenced according to the country’s law,” Mr Aziz said.