Pakistan court jails rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha for 10 years

An antiterrorism court in Pakistan has sentenced human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, to 10 years in prison on terrorism-related charges. Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra announced the verdict on Thursday after a trial held inside Adiala prison in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

England cricket team security case

The couple were found guilty of putting the security of the England and Wales cricket team at risk. In the judgement, obtained by the AFP news agency, the judge wrote that this "clearly shows the intentions and objective of the accused to create a sense of terror". The same ruling conceded that the security breach was "a very common nature ordinary type of incident apparently of removal of a barrier".

The case relates to an incident in October 2024, when the couple removed road barriers in the capital, Islamabad, along a route designated for the touring England cricket team. They were indicted on October 7, accused of obstructing police and inciting public interest, and pleaded not guilty.

Couple say they are 'prisoners of conscience'

In statements seen by the Reuters news agency, Mazari and Chattha denied the charges and described themselves as "prisoners of conscience", saying they were being targeted for their human rights work. In an earlier defence document, they said they were "being made an example to further cement the chilling effect against those who stand (or want to stand) against tyranny, oppression and injustice".

Shireen Mazari, Imaan Mazari's mother and a former human rights minister under incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, called the proceedings a "sham trial without any due process". She told Reuters the couple were not permitted to defend themselves through their own lawyer and were not provided with key legal documents. She said the defence would file a petition against the verdict in the Supreme Court.

Amnesty International called the convictions "an indictment of Pakistan's justice system". Its spokesperson Yasmine Ahmend said the case had tested the judiciary's ability to uphold the principles of justice and the right to a fair trial, and that "it has failed that test miserably", adding that the anti-terrorism charges were being used to punish the couple for their human rights advocacy.

Separate social media case

Mazari and Chattha have been in custody since January 23 in a separate case over their social media posts. A lower court sentenced them each to 17 years the following day under Pakistan's Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, which critics have said is designed to quash antigovernment dissent online. The Supreme Court later suspended those sentences, but police re-arrested the couple the same day in the security breach case.

Babu Ram Pant, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for South Asia, said the re-arrest "dispels any pretence that the charges against them are anything other than a politically motivated attempt to punish them for their human rights work", adding that the case demonstrated the authorities' willingness to weaponise the legal system against critical voices.

Pakistan's law minister, Azam Nazeer Tarar, has repeatedly said the country's judiciary is independent.

Source: Al Jazeera.