Pakistan Offers 2nd Consular Access To Indian National Sentenced To Death For Espionage

Pakistan Offers 2nd Consular Access to Indian National Sentenced to Death for Espionage

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry has offered a second round of consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for espionage and terrorism, Pakistani Additional Attorney General Ahmed Irfan said on Wednesday

NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2020) The Pakistani Foreign Ministry has offered a second round of consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court for espionage and terrorism, Pakistani Additional Attorney General Ahmed Irfan said on Wednesday.

According to Irfan, Jadhav refused to file a petition to review his sentence and decided to "follow up on his pending mercy petition" he filed in April 2017.

"Pakistan has already offered second consular access to the Indian," Irfan said at a press conference, adding that in the first round, Jadhav met with his mother and wife and was now offered the chance to meet with his father and wife.

Jadhav was sentenced to death in Pakistan for espionage and terrorism charges in April 2017. According to Islamabad, the country's security forces arrested him on March 3, 2016, after he allegedly entered Pakistan from Iran. New Delhi, in turn, says that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran.

Last year, India challenged the Pakistani court verdict in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and claimed that Islamabad violated the Vienna Convention on consular access to the detainee. The ICJ upheld India's claim, requesting Islamabad to hold an effective review and a reconsideration of Jadhav's conviction.