Pakistan to execute Indian man
accused of spying
Updated 0609 GMT (1409 HKT) April 11, 2017
Indian national Kulbushan Jadhav is shown in a video during a
press briefing in Islamabad in March 2016. Jadhav was sentenced to death this
week by a Pakistani military court.
Former
naval officer was arrested in Pakistan in March 2016
India
claims the man was kidnapped from Iran
(CNN)Pakistan has sentenced to death an Indian man accused of
spying, further raising tensions between the two countries.
India claims the former naval officer was "kidnapped"
from Iran and said his execution would be an act of "premeditated
murder."
Kulbushan Jadhav was arrested in March last year, "for his
involvement in espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan,"
according to a statement released by the Pakistan armed forces Monday.
The statement said Jadhav confessed that he was tasked by
India's foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), to
"plan, coordinate and organize espionage / sabotage activities aiming to
destabilize and wage war against Pakistan."
A military court found Jadhav guilty on two counts of espionage
and sentenced him to death.
'Kidnapped'
India has vociferously objected to Jadhav's sentencing, saying
consular officials were denied access to him during his trial, in defiance of
international law.
New Delhi urgently summoned Pakistani diplomats Monday to
discuss the case.
"Jadhav was kidnapped last year from Iran and his
subsequent presence in Pakistan has never been explained credibly," the
Indian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The foreign ministry previously claimed Jadhav, a former naval
officer, was operating a business in Iran prior to his arrest in Pakistan.
Monday's statement said there was no "credible
evidence" against Jadhav and described his sentence as
"farcical."
If the sentence is carried out, the statement said, "the
government and people of India will regard it as a case of premeditated
murder."
Amnesty International said military courts, which were used in
this case, were linked to coerced confessions and unfair trials.
Pakistan executed 87 people last year, making it the world's
fifth biggest executioner, according
to an Amnesty report on the global death penalty this week.
Jadhav was charged under the Pakistan
Army Act 1952 and the Official
Secrets Act 1923, both
of which provide for the death penalty.
Espionage has long been a tense subject between Pakistan and
India. In 2013, Sarabjit Singh, an Indian man sentenced to death for spying,
died in a Pakistan jail after
being attacked by fellow inmates.
More than 40 alleged Pakistani spies have been arrested in India
since 2013, according to the government.
While India does retain the death penalty, and hundreds of
people were sentenced last year, only three executions have been carried out
since 2007, according to Amnesty.
'Headed for
crisis'
Talat Hussain, an Islamabad-based defense analyst said Jadhav's
sentence could have "a very major impact" on the India-Pakistan
relationship and further aggravate ties.
"I think we are heading for a major crisis," he said.
"This will not bode well for both the countries and the region."
Tensions between India and Pakistan have increased in recent
months over continued
violence in the
disputed region of Kashmir, control of which both
countries claim.
In November, Pakistan evacuated
thousands of people from
the parts of Kashmir administered by Islamabad, blaming "Indian
shelling." That came after an attack by militants on an Indian army base left 18 soldiers dead.
Last month, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh called for the
country to completely
seal its border with Pakistan on
the grounds that terrorists were using it to infiltrate the country.
Sophia Saifi reported
from Islamabad, Pakistan; Sugam Pokharel reported from New Delhi, India. James
Griffiths reported and wrote from Hong Kong.
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