Pakistan tables new law to allow Indian spy to appeal death sentence in court

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government on Monday put a new law before parliament for approval that will allow an Indian convicted for spying in Pakistan to approach a high court for the review of the death penalty awarded him by a military court in 2017.
Kulbhushan Jadhav was arrested in March 2016 in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Balochistan, the site of a long-running conflict between security forces and separatists. He was convicted of planning espionage and sabotage and sentenced to death by a military tribunal the following year. 
Pakistani opposition parties have criticized the government for “facilitating” Jadhav through the special law. The government says the new ordinance will effectively block India from going to the UN Security Council against Pakistan.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs, Babar Awan, presented the bill, called the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Ordinance, 2020, before the National Assembly for approval.
“In no way has the national interest or security been compromised by the promulgation of this ordinance,” Awan told Pakistani media. “Therefore, the political hullaballoo is not justified or fair.”
India says Jadhav is innocent. Last year the World Court ordered Pakistan to review the death penalty for Jadhav.
On July 22, the Pakistan government approached the Islamabad High Court to appoint a legal representative for the Indian spy. According to the petition, Jadhav has refused to file a petition against his sentence. 
The Indian spy cannot appoint a lawyer in Pakistan without India’s assistance, and Delhi is reluctant to avail the review facility under the ordinance, the petition said.
The government has thus asked the court to appoint a legal representative for Jadhav so that Pakistan can fulfil its responsibility to implementation the ICJ’s decision.
On July 17, Pakistan offered Jadhav consular access for a third time.
Pakistan authorities say Jadhav confessed to being ordered by India’s intelligence service to conduct espionage and sabotage in Balochistan, a province at the center of a $60 billion Chinese-backed “Belt and Road” development project.
In a transcript released by Pakistan of what it says is Jadhav’s confession, the former naval officer says disrupting the Chinese-funded projects was a main goal of his activities.