THE HAGUE: India on Monday demanded before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Pakistan annul the death sentence of alleged spy Kulbushan Jadhav and see that he was not executed as his trial was held under “farcical” circumstances in violation of the Vienna Convention.
“I urge the ICJ to ensure that Jadhav is not executed, Pakistan reports to this court that the action (of not executing him) is taken and that no action is taken that might prejudice the rights of India in the matter of Jadhav,” noted lawyer Harish Salve submitted in his over hour-long presentation before ICJ President Ronny Abraham in The Hague.
The ICJ had stayed the execution of Jadhav on a petition by India, which approached the UN court after 46 years on an issue with Pakistan.
The former Indian Navy officer was awarded the death sentence by a Pakistani military court last month, a year after he was arrested on espionage charges. India says Jadhav has been kidnapped and framed. Islamabad has rejected 16 Indian requests for consular access to Jadhav, who is held at an unknown prison in Pakistan.
The brunt of Salve’s argument was that the entire matter of arrest, chargesheet and trial of Jadhav were all done in violation of the UN Charter and Vienna Convention in farcical circumstances and on concocted charges as Jadhav was not given legal assistance to defend himself.
Salve, who led the Indian legal team at the ICJ, said the matter was “grave and urgent” and hence India approached this court which took up the case “at such a short notice”.
The Indian lawyer told the court that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran on March 16, 2016, brought to Pakistan, presented as an alleged Indian spy and confession was extracted in custody before a magistrate. He was incommunicado and the trial was also held incommunicado.
He urged the ICJ President to take note of the farcical nature of the circumstances of the military court.
Salve said the provisions of the Vienna Convention recognised that any prisoner has a right to be tried by an independent tribunal as established by law and he should be tried in his presence and defended by legal aid assigned to him. In Jadhav’s case all the basic provisions of human rights were “thrown to the wind”, he said.
The facts presented by India establish the violation of all principles of UN charter and Vienna Convention because of the nature of the trial which destroyed any credibility or sanctity of the army court’s decision sentencing him to death, he said.
After the court adjourned for a three-hour break to hear Pakistan’s arguments, Salve told the media outside that he expected India to be provided justice by the court. — IANS
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