The International Court of Justice (ICJ) cannot save alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav from death sentence, Pakistan’s top foreign policy adviser Sartaj Aziz said recently.
A defiant Pakistan has reacted to its recent setback at the ICJ, which granted a temporary stay on Jadhav’s execution, by arguing that its domestic laws come first.
“Jadhav had 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,” Aziz said.
“The ICJ has not given any order regarding consular access for Jadhav. It has only asked Pakistan to keep a stay on Jadhav’s execution until it arrives at a decision,” Aziz added.
“When it comes to cases involving the death penalty, the international court has always given a stay order. The ICJ has not decided on consular access either and has only intimated that the matter will come under discussion,” Aziz further added.
The adviser said that India’s stance that Pakistan was defeated by the recent ICJ verdict was inaccurate. “A wrong impression was created by Indian media that Pakistan has lost the case,” Aziz said.
Responding to a question on why no judge was sent on the day of the ICJ hearing, he said that the government could not appoint one within a short span of five days.
“We will go with a strong team in the next hearing,” Aziz said, adding that even if Pakistan had chosen an ad hoc judge, the ICJ’s verdict would not have changed.
He defended Islamabad’s position, saying that Jadhav was tried and convicted in line with the country’s constitution and laws, adding that Pakistan’s position was “very strong” in this respect.
The United Nations’ top court recently ordered a stay on the execution of Jadhav. Judges at the ICJ ruled that Jadhav must not be put to death by Islamabad until they have had time to pass a final judgment in the case.
Jadhav was arrested in a counter-intelligence raid in Balochistan in March 2016.
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