PARIS, FRANCE: Baloch National Movement (BNM) chairman Dr Naseem Baloch has described the 10-year prison sentences given to human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, as deeply worrying. He called for the verdict to be strongly condemned and demanded the couple’s immediate release.
In a statement, Dr Naseem Baloch said the sentences should concern anyone who cares about human rights. He described Mazari as more than a lawyer, saying she has been a voice for people who are rarely heard. He said she has stood with victims of rights abuses, families of those subjected to enforced disappearance, political prisoners and oppressed communities.
He said Mazari has consistently backed Baloch families campaigning against the disappearance of their relatives. While many people stay silent in the face of injustice, he said, she stood with those whom others tried to silence.
Dr Baloch said her courage and her work for human rights should not be treated as a crime. “We stand with Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha and demand their immediate release,” he said. He added that defending human rights is not a crime and that speaking up for missing persons and the oppressed should never be criminalised.
An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad sentenced the couple to 10 years in prison each on Thursday. The case concerns the alleged removal of road barriers on October 25, 2024, during the England cricket team’s visit to Pakistan. The Pakistani court also gave shorter terms for obstructing and assaulting public servants, and all the sentences run concurrently.
The judge ruled that the couple had put the team’s security at risk. Both deny the charges and describe themselves as “prisoners of conscience.”
Amnesty International and Front Line Defenders have also condemned the convictions. Amnesty said the trial did not uphold the couple’s right to a fair trial, while Front Line Defenders called the use of terrorism charges over a barrier a “gross misuse” of counter-terrorism law. The couple’s defence has said it will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.
