Indian death row spy Kulbushan ?must be freed?, India tells UN court

THE HAGUE: Islamabad should be ordered to free Indian spy Kulbushan Sudhir Jadhav who was sentenced to death for spying in Pakistan, India´s lawyers told the UN´s top court Monday.Jadhav, an Indian spy and former Indian navy officer, was arrested in Balochistan in March 2016 on charges of espionage and sentenced to death by a military court in 2017.India insists Jadhav, 48, was not a spy and that he was kidnapped in Pakistan. New Delhi is now asking the ICJ -- which rules in disputes between countries -- to nullify his sentence and to order Islamabad to set him free."Considering the trauma over the past three years, it would be in the interest of justice of making human rights a reality, to direct his release," India´s lawyer Harish Salve told the judges.India´s joint secretary at its External Affairs Ministry, Deepak Mittal, told the court the proceedings against Jadhav in Pakistan were based on a "farcical case" and "malicious propaganda".Islamabad´s lawyers are to state their case on Tuesday.The ICJ´s decision will likely come months after this week´s hearings.