- Title: India asks World Court to bar Pakistan from executing alleged spy
- Date: 15th May 2017
- Summary: THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS (MAY 15, 2017) (REUTERS) ABRAHAM TAKING SEAT
- Embargoed: 29th May 2017 12:44
- Keywords: sabotage Baluchistan military ICJ India Kulbushan Sudhir Jadhav espionage Judges Pakistan International Court of Justice
- Location: THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS / UNIDENTIFED LOCATION, PAKISTAN
- City: THE HAGUE, THE NETHERLANDS / UNIDENTIFED LOCATION, PAKISTAN
- Country: Netherlands
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA0056GY8X8N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: India asked a U.N. court's judges on Monday (May 15) to order Pakistan to stay the execution of an Indian citizen Islamabad says is a captured spy, a case that has escalated tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
India argued in a preliminary hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Pakistan violated the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations by denying the condemned man access to legal and other assistance from India. Pakistan was to respond later Monday.
Monday's hearings focused on India's request for so-called "provisional measures" that can be granted at short notice to ensure a dispute between states does not deteriorate during full ICJ proceedings, which typically take several years.
At the core of the dispute is the fate of Kulbhushan Sudir Jadhav, an Indian former naval officer who was arrested in March 2016 in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan. There has been a long-running conflict in Baluchistan between Pakistani security forces and a militant separatist movement.
According to Islamabad, Jadhav confessed to being tasked by India's intelligence service with planning, coordinating and organising espionage and sabotage activities in Baluchistan "aiming to destabilise and wage war against Pakistan".
In April, a Pakistani military court sentenced him to death but the government has said his conviction and sentence remain open to appeal.
The ICJ is the U.N. court for resolving disputes between nations, and its decisions are final and binding. However, it has no means to enforce rulings and they have occasionally been ignored. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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