There is room for a rethink: Pak's Abdul Basit on Jadhav death sentence

June 21, 2017 12:31

Pakistan's outgoing High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit has said that his country is committed not to carry out the execution of death sentence awarded to Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav by a military court till the hearing in the International Court of Justice gives its verdict in the case.

In an interview with The Hindu, Basit, who was appointed Islamabad's envoy to New Delhi in 2014 just days before PM Narendra Modi assumed charge, said that there is still hope left for Jadhav.

"There is a process that is ongoing, and if Jadhav's appeal were rejected (by the court), that would be the time for the army chief or the President to reconsider the sentence against him. He has been tried, he has been convicted, and he has the right to appeal. If that is rejected, then he has the right to submit an application for clemency to the army chief, and if he denies it, then to the President. So there is room for a rethink there," Basit said.

India had approached the International Court of Justice on May 8 soon after a military court in Pakistan awarded death sentence to Jadhav, a former Navyman, on espionage charges.

Read the full interview HERE

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