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Pakistan human rights lawyer, husband get 17 years over social media posts
Eminent human rights lawyer Imran Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, were each sentenced to 17 years in prison for controversial social media posts. The couple was arrested en route to court and later boycotted proceedings, alleging torture. Their arrests have sparked condemnation and warnings of a lawyers' movement.
Pakistan's eminent human rights lawyer Imran Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, lawyer Hadi Ali Chattha, were on Saturday sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison each in a case about social media posts.
The case was based on a complaint filed on August 12, 2025, at the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in Islamabad, accusing the two of controversial social media posts.
The NCCIA complaint accused Mazari-Hazir of "propagating narratives that align with hostile terrorist groups and proscribed organisations", while her husband was implicated for reposting some of her posts.
They were indicted in the case on October 30 last year and arrested on Friday in the capital, Islamabad, while en route to court and later sent to jail on a 14-day judicial remand.
Additional District and Sessions Court presided by Judge Mohammad Afzal Majoka announced the sentence after the two accused boycotted the proceedings after briefly appearing through a video-link from the Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.
A court order written by Judge Majoka said that the "prosecution has been able to prove its case against both the accused" under various sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).
Geo News reported that the two were each sentenced to five years imprisonment under Section 9, ten years under Section 10 and two years under Section 26-A.
The sentence was announced after Mazari-Hazir refused to attend the proceedings upon learning that the media had been barred from the courtroom.
"Is the media present in court?" she asked during the hearing before alleging, "We are being subjected to torture. We are not being given food or water."
Mazari then announced, "We are boycotting the court proceedings."
The judge responded by asking, "You mean you do not want to be part of the proceedings?" and told them to "wait for the decision."
When the couple left their chairs, the judge ordered his staff to provide details of all recordings and later issued the order of conviction.
Earlier, Majoka had issued their arrest warrants on January 16, a day after cancelling their interim bail due to repeated non-appearances.
Mazari-Hazir's mother, Dr Shireen Mazari, who was a human rights minister in the government of former prime minister Imran Khan, confirmed the arrest on Friday.
She said that her daughter and son-in-law "have been arrested, put in separate cars, and taken away to unknown locations."
"Fascism at its peak. Emasculated men in power must be so pleased with this achievement!" Mazari said in a post on X.
Before their arrest, the couple spent two consecutive nights in the office of Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) President Wajid Ali Gilani to evade arrest.
Gilani, who was with Mazari-Hazir at the time of the arrest, had claimed that the authorities had made a commitment that the couple would not be arrested when going to appear before the court.
He also claimed that the police subjected the lawyers to violence and broke the vehicles' windows, forcing Mazari-Hazir and Hadi out of the car, adding that police officials also "pushed down (IHCBA) Secretary Manzoor Jajja" and also subjected him to violence.
"The authorities should stop this oppression. If they do not, then the 2007 lawyers' movement will be launched again," Gilani said, as he warned of protest.
After the arrest, the IHCBA, the Islamabad Bar Association (IBA) and the Islamabad Bar Council (IBC) issued separate statements condemning the arrest, while the IHCBA and IBA announced a strike for Friday, and the IBC called on lawyers to observe a strike on Saturday.
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Source: EconomicTimes
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