ICJ reserves judgment on Indian petition
 

https://www.thenews.com.pk/assets/up...1905_print.jpg Pakistan challenges jurisdiction of international court to hear Yadav case, arguing a spy doesn’t have right to consular access; asks Indian petition be declared inadmissible; India claims Jadav ‘in**cent’; confession forced out of him; his parents denied meeting with son

THE HAGUE: International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday reserved judgment on the petition filed by India seeking to halt implementation of death sentence awarded by Pakistan to its spy Kulbhushan Yadav.

Pakistan has contested that the petition is inadmissible. While delivering the arguments in the ICJ, Pakistan maintained that the state would **t deter in fight against terrorism and those sponsoring terror could **t shake its resolve. DG South Asia in Foreign ******, Dr Faisal, argued that according to Vienna Convention, this court has ** jurisdiction to hear such a case.

He said Indian Naval Commander Yadav was arrested by Pakistani forces during an operation in Balochistan province and he confessed to killing of dozens of in**cent Pakistanis. He said the Indian spy was sentenced to death after fulfilling all necessary legal procedures and he was given counsel to defend allegations against him.

Dr Faisal said spies do **t have right to counsulor access and India has **t produced evidence in favour of Yadav in the court. Earlier, a 13-member Indian legal team presented arguments which were branded weak by experts of the law.

In an emergency hearing called only days after India lodged its case, lawyers and officials for New Delhi urged the ICJ to halt the death sentence imposed on Yadav saying his rights had been violated by Islamabad. He was "an in**cent Indian national, who, incarcerated in Pakistan for more than a year on concocted charges, (has been) deprived of his rights and protection accorded under the Vienna Convention," Deepak Mittal, an official with India´s ministry of external affairs, told the court in The Hague.

Mittal insisted Pakistan has failed to respond to all Indian demands for information about the case, snubbing requests for documents including the charge sheet, and has failed to provide Jadav with consular access. Islamabad has also **t responded to a visa application by Jadav´s parents seeking to travel to Pakistan to visit their son, he said.

Jadav ‘has been denied the right to be defended by a legal counsel of his choice,’ Mittal said at the start of day-longhearing, adding that a confession was forced out of him. "All that we k**w is what we have seen in the media in Pakistan," he added.

Pakistan legal team has Moazzam Ahmad Khan, Ambassador of Pakistan to UAE in capacity of an Agent; Muhammad Faisal, DG (South Asia & SAARC) in capacity of an Agent; Syed Faraz Hussain Zaidi, Counsellor of the Pakistan Embassy in the Netherlands in capacity of an Adviser; QC Khawar Qureshi as the Counsel; Asad Rahim Khan as the Junior Counsel; and Joseph Dyke as the Legal Assistant.

Qureshi requested the court to declare Indian petition inadmissible. He said the Indian government maintained silence over bogus passport seized from Jadav. The council cited Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 to challenge ICJ’s jurisdiction in the case. Qureshi also exposed Indian hypocrisy before the esteemed panel by informing it that Indian team concealed the fact that Pakistan had handed over evidence to the Indian government on the issue.

Qureshi said Yadav "is a terrorist" and New Delhi´s story was "far-fetched at best." "India invoked the jurisdiction of this court improperly," he said. "This court exists to ensure that states engage in peaceful resolution of disputes. This court does **t exist for time-wasting and political grandstanding," he said.

Muhammad Faisal said the tribunal had been shown a video of the confession which was available on-line "for viewers to decide for themselves whether commander Jadhav is confessing voluntarily".

Faisal also showed the court a picture of a passport which he said was found in Jadav´s possession bearing a completely different "and Muslim" name. "India has been unable, or perhaps unwilling, to provide an explanation for this passport which is the most obvious indication of covert and illegal activity," added Faisal.

The court´s president Ronny Abraham said the tribunal would publicly deliver its decision on whether to grant an emergency stay of execution "as soon as possible."



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