Kulbhushan Jadhav case ICJ verdict: Pakistan's news outlets welcome 'fitting' judgment, call it 'pretty bad for India'

In the verdict delivered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday in the case of Kulbhushan Jadhav, Pakistan was directed to conduct an “effective review and reconsideration” of the conviction and sentence of the former naval officer. In addition, Pakistan was found to be in violation of Article 36(1) of the Vienna Convention for not informing Jadhav of his rights “without delay” following his arrest, not informing India about his detention and denying consular access to him. A review of the death sentence awarded to him was also ordered. The international court also rejected most of the remedies sought by India, including Jadhav’s release and safe passage to India. News organisations in Pakistan, like Dawn, The Express Tribune, Geo TV and Associated Press of Pakistan, hailed the ICJ’s rejection of India’s plea to release Jadhav. While The Express Tribune featured articles which called it a “fitting” verdict and had a video of Jadhav’s confession, Geo News shared articles which carried Twitter reactions calling the judgment “a victory of Pakistan”. [caption id=“attachment_7013251” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Screenshot of the Dawn website on Wednesday[/caption] The Dawn carried a similar article carrying Twitter posts, titled ‘not too bad for Pakistan, pretty bad for India’. Another article by the news organisation listed details about the verdict and titled it ‘Pakistan didn’t fail’. A timeline of the Kulbhushan Jadhav case was published by the Associated Press of Pakistan, which called the former naval officer an “Indian spy”, emphasising on the rejection of India’s plea before the international court in The Hague, Netherlands. [caption id=“attachment_7013261” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Screenshot of the Geo News TV website on Wednesday[/caption] A Dawn article titled ‘ICJ rejects India’s plea for Jadhav’s return, grants consular access’ read, “Jadhav, a serving commander in the Indian Navy working for India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was arrested on March 3, 2016, from Balochistan. June 2017, the Indian spy filed a mercy petition against his death penalty while India approached the ICJ against the conviction. The ICJ stayed his execution.” [caption id=“attachment_7013271” align=“alignnone” width=“824”]  Screenshot of the Associated Press of Pakistan website on Wednesday.[/caption] Meanwhile, Pakistan’s foreign office said in a statement that the country “upheld its commitment as a responsible member of the international community” by appearing before the court despite a very short notice. “Having heard the judgment, Pakistan will now proceed as per law,” the statement said. The Foreign Office said that Jadhav entered Pakistan “without a visa on authentic Indian Passport with a fake alias Hussain Mubarak Patel”. Pakistan’s Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari said that execution of Jadhav was stayed by the International Court of Justice only until he exhausts reviews. Jadhav, 49, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by the Pakistani military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism” after a closed trial in April 2017. On 18 May, 2017, the ICJ ordered Pakistan to halt the execution of Jadhav until a final decision was made in the proceedings. With inputs from PTI