The Pakistan military’s Inter Services Public Relations on Thursday said former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav has filed a mercy petition with their Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa. Jadhav was given the death penalty on April 4 by a Pakistan military court on charges of terror activities and spying.
“In his plea, Commander Jadhav has admitted to his involvement in espionage, terrorist and subversive activities in Pakistan and expressed remorse at the resultant loss of many precious innocent lives and extensive damage to property due to his actions,” the ISPR said in a statement. Jadhav had sought “forgiveness” for his actions, it added.
The agency said Jadhav would not be executed until he has exhausted his rightful mercy pleas. It also claimed that Jadhav had earlier made an appeal with the Military Appellate Court that was rejected. He is still eligible to file a mercy petition with the president of Pakistan.
India had taken the case to the International Court of Justice, saying that Pakistan had refused to give them consular access to Jadhav, who was arrested in March 2016 on espionage charges. The first hearing in the case took place on May 18 and the court had stayed Jadhav’s execution until the completion of the hearing. It had also asked Pakistan to grant India consular access to Jadhav, which has not been done so far.
On June 16, the ICJ had given India until September 13 to make its submission in Jadhav’s case and Pakistan until December 13 to submit its counter-memorial.
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