Following ICJ ruling, Pakistan to grant consular access Kulbhushan Jadhav 

Pallavi Kulkarni  Friday 19th of July 2019 12:12 PM
(51) (12)

Kulbhushan Jadhav.

New Delhi: Pakistan, on Friday, has announced that it will grant consular access to the death-row prisoner Kulbhushan Jadhav, a day after the International Court of Justice directed Pakistan to immediately inform Jadhav about his rights and provide him consular access.

A press release from the office of the spokesperson of the Pakistani ministry of foreign affairs (MOFA) said: “Pursuant to the decision of the ICJ, Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav has been informed of his rights under Article 36, Paragraph 1 (b) of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. As a responsible state, Pakistan will grant consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav according to Pakistani laws, for which modalities are being worked out. [Sic.]

Earlier, according to media reports, a diplomatic source, while mentioning the multiple pending requests from India to Pakistan regarding consular access to Jadhav, has admitted that Pakistan need to respect the ICJ’s order and act on the requests without further delay.

The ICJ, on Wednesday, slammed Pakistan for violating the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations under Article 36 that provides countries right to access to consular when their citizens are in the custody abroad. It has also directed Pakistan to take all measures to provide for effective review and reconsideration, including, if necessary, by enacting appropriate legislation.

In March 2016, Kulbhushan Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was kidnapped in Iran, where he was in a business trip, and brought to Pakistan where he was charged with spying and terrorism. Pakistan claims he was arrested in the Pakistani province of Balochistan on charges of terrorism and spying for India’s intelligence agency, Research & Analysis Wing. A military court in Pakistan had sentenced Jadhav to death, in April 2017, for “spying and carrying out terror activities” inside the country.

However, ICJ had ordered stay on his sentence through interim order when being approached by India in May 8, 2017 for the egregious violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention by Pakistan.

He was allowed to meet his mother and wife in December 2017 who had travelled to Pakistan for the meeting.

Click here for the full details of the Kulbhushan Jadhav case in the ICJ [pdf].


 

Related

 
 

Leave Your Response