Kulbhushan Jadhav’s plea of mercy now with army chief: Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan army said on Sunday that its chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa is reviewing the evidence against former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav who was sentenced to death by a military court in April over espionage and terror charges.
“The mercy appeal is pending before the chief of army staff. All evidence and case proceedings against him (Jadhav) are being examined by the army chief, and he will take a decision on the basis of merit and justice,” Major General Asif Ghafoor, chief of Pakistan army’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations, said while addressing a press conference in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
According to an ISPR statement issued on June 22, Jadhav had filed a petition for mercy to Gen Bajwa last month after his earlier plea was rejected by the military’s appellate court.If the army chief declines his appeal, Jadhav would still be eligible under Pakistani law to make a request to president Mamnoon Hussain.
Jadhav, according to Pakistan, was arrested on March 3, 2016, through a counter-intelligence operation in Balochistan’s Mashkhel area, a claim which is rejected by India. New Delhi says Jadhav was abducted from Iran. He was sentenced to death on April 10 this year but the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had stopped Pakistan from carrying out the punishment on May 18.
In violation of the Vienna Convention, Pakistan has turned down all Indian requests seeking consular access to Jadhav. New Delhi has made at least 18 requests to Pakistan to give consular access to its national.
Islamabad is also sitting on a request for a visa to Jadhav's mother Avantika for travelling to Pakistan to meet her son. On July 13, the foreign office said Pakistan was “considering” the request for visa.