Pak sentenced death to Jadhav because he was Indian: Sarabjit Singh's sister

Jalandhar (Punjab) [India], Apr. 10 (ANI): Sarabjit Singh's sister Dalbir Kaur on Monday strongly condemned Pakistan for awarding death sentence to alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav stating that he was penalised because he was an Indian. "It was expected from the Pakistani government. Whenever they capture an Indian, they brand him as a RAW agent first. Then they begin false trail against him; then they punish him for being an Indian, not a RAW agent," Kaur told ANI. She further said that the judgment was awarded solely to please the Army and other agencies in Pakistan. Earlier today, Pakistan Military sentenced Jadhav to death, its media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. "The spy was tried through Field General Court Martial (FGCM) under the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) and awarded the death sentence. Today Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa confirmed his death sentence awarded by FGCM," the ISPR said. Strongly reacting to this, India summoned Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit and issued a demarche. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Indian High Commission in Islamabad was not even informed about Jadhav's trial in the court. The ministry added that the subsequent presence of Jadhav, who was kidnapped last year from Iran, has never been explained credibly by the Pakistani authorities. "If this sentence against an Indian citizen, awarded without observing basic norms of law and justice, is carried out, the Government and people of India will regard it as a case of premeditated murder," an official statement read. Earlier in March 2016, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the former Indian naval officer was arrested by Pakistan for allegedly engaging in subversive activities was possibly kidnapped from Iran and denied any possibilities of him being involved in subversive activities in Pakistan. The accused, used to run a business in the Iranian port city of Chabahar. He was seen in a video confessing that he was an official of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's external intelligence agency. (ANI)