Inside Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, sat behind a cage-like structure as Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra sentenced the two human rights lawyers to 10 years in prison each on Thursday. Amnesty International said the trial was held inside the prison, where the couple had been detained for several months.
The anti-terrorism court imposed the 10-year terms under the Anti-Terrorism Act. It also handed each defendant additional one-year and two-year terms for obstructing and using force against public servants, with all of the sentences to run concurrently. Each was fined 200,000 Pakistani Rupees.
The court found that the couple had put the security of the England and Wales Cricket team at risk. The case arose from an incident on October 25, 2024, at Zero Point, a cloverleaf road junction in Islamabad, while England’s team was travelling for a Test match.
Prosecutors alleged that Mazari and Chattha removed barriers from a road reserved for the team’s security convoy, obstructed police officers and encouraged bystanders to intervene. The couple were indicted on October 7 on accusations of obstructing police and inciting public interest, and pleaded not guilty.
Mazari and Chattha denied the charges, describing themselves as prisoners of conscience who were being targeted for their human rights work. They have represented activists, journalists and marginalised communities.
The defence disputed the terrorism charges. It said police assaulted Mazari and argued that the prosecution was retaliation for the couple’s human rights advocacy.
Shireen Mazari, Imaan Mazari’s mother and a former Pakistan human rights minister under Imran Khan, called the proceedings a sham trial without due process. She told Reuters that the couple were prevented from using their own lawyer and were denied key legal documents.
Yasmine Ahmed, Amnesty International’s senior director for regional human rights impact, said: “These convictions are an indictment of Pakistan's justice system.”
The cricket security case followed another sequence of detention and prosecution. On January 23, Mazari and Chattha were arrested in a separate case involving an alleged altercation outside the Islamabad High Court. A sessions court sentenced them the following day to up to 17 years in prison each under Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act over social media posts critical of the military.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court suspended those sentences and granted the couple bail on September 17. Police re-arrested them that day in connection with the security breach case.
Chattha said in an interview: “I am being punished for not only supporting my wife's work and activism, but for choosing this path of resisting injustice as our life journey together.”
The court acquitted the couple on four other counts concerning aggravated criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy, armed rioting and liability as members of an unlawful assembly. Their lawyer, Zainab Janjua, said: “Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha have been sentenced to 10 years in prison. We will challenge the decision.”
The defence plans to file a petition against the verdict in the Supreme Court. Pakistan’s law minister, Azam Nazeer Tarar, has repeatedly said the country’s judiciary is independent.
Comments (0)