ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad sentenced human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, to 10 years in prison each on Thursday over the alleged removal of road barriers during the England cricket team’s 2024 visit. Rights groups condemned the verdict, and the couple’s lawyers said they will appeal.
Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra announced the verdict after a trial held inside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. The court also handed down one-year and two-year terms for obstructing and assaulting public servants. All three sentences will run concurrently.
According to the judgment, which AFP obtained, the judge found that the couple put the security of the England and Wales Cricket team at risk. He wrote that this showed an intent to create terror. The ruling also described the October 25, 2024 incident as an “ordinary” one involving the removal of a barrier.
Both lawyers denied the charges. In statements seen by Reuters, they called themselves “prisoners of conscience” and said they were targeted for their human rights work.
Shireen Mazari, Imaan’s mother and a former human rights minister, called the trial a “sham.” She told Reuters the couple were not allowed to be represented by their own lawyer and did not receive key legal documents. She said the defence will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.
Amnesty International said the proceedings failed to uphold the right to a fair trial. Yasmine Ahmed, the group’s senior director for regional human rights impact, said the lawyers were first barred from attending in person. She said that after the trial moved into the prison, they were held behind a “cage-like structure.” She called for their immediate release and for the charges to be withdrawn.
Front Line Defenders called the use of terrorism charges over a traffic barrier a “gross misuse” of counter-terrorism law. It said the case is part of a pattern of successive proceedings meant to keep the couple in detention.
Mazari, a prominent critic of Pakistan’s military, has represented journalists, ethnic minorities and families of enforced disappearance victims. Rights groups say the prosecutions are aimed at her advocacy, particularly on Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Supreme Court suspended the couple’s sentences and granted bail in a separate social media case on September 17, but they were re-arrested the same day.
