Pakistan on Friday said it will present its case in the International Court of Justice on February 19 against former Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, Geo News reported. Jadhav is on death row in Islamabad after Pakistan charged him with spying for Indian intelligence agencies in 2016.
“Pakistan has all the evidence against Jadhav of sabotage activities inside Pakistan,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said at an event in the United Kingdom. “Jadhav has admitted to being involved in such activities.”
“Pakistan’s legal team will present its stance in the case at The Hague on the 19th of this month,” said Qureshi.
After Jadhav was sentenced to death, India moved the International Court of Justice against the verdict in May 2017. The court stayed his execution, but a final verdict is pending.
In October last year, the International Court of Justice had said it will hold hearings from February 18 to February 21 in the Peace Palace at The Hague in the Netherlands, the seat of the court. India will argue its case from 10 am to 1 pm on February 18, and Pakistan will present its case on February 19 at the same time. On February 20, India will kick off the second round of oral arguments, and Pakistan will respond on February 21.
India has demanded consular access to Jadhav under the rules of the Vienna Convention – an international treaty on consular relations between independent states – but Pakistan has rejected the request repeatedly.
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