Pakistan’s Additional Attorney General Ahmed Irfan on Wednesday claimed that incarcerated Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav had refused to file a review petition against the death sentence imposed on him.
Irfan made the statement at a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday. Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer, had been sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in 2017 on charge of being an Indian spy engaged in subversive activities in Balochistan.
India claimed Pakistan had kidnapped Jadhav from Iran where he was working. In July last year, the International Court of Justice asked Pakistan to stay his execution until it reconsidered his conviction and sentence.
Speaking to mediapersons on Thursday, Irfan claimed Jadhav had refused to file a review petition, but was still pursuing his mercy plea. Irfan claimed, "On June 17, Kulbhushan Jadhav was invited to file a petition for review and reconsideration of his sentence and conviction. Exercising his legal right, he refused to file a petition for review and consideration of his sentence and conviction.”
The Pakistan government also announced that it had granted India consular access to Jadhav for a second time and hoped India would respond to its offer. Jadhav's family had visited him amid intense media glare in December 2017.
