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 visit in 2024.
Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra announced the verdict following their trial inside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. The court also imposed one-year and two-year sentences for obstructing and assaulting public servants, with all three terms to run concurrently.
The couple were found guilty of putting “the security of [the England and Wales Cricket] team at risk”, the judge wrote, adding that it “clearly shows the intentions and objective of the accused to create a sense of terror”, according to a copy of the court judgment obtained by the AFP news agency.
The ruling also described the incident on October 25, 2024, as “a very common nature ordinary type of incident apparently of removal of a barrier”.
Both lawyers denied the charges. In statements seen by Reuters, they described themselves as “prisoners of conscience” and said they were being targeted for their human rights work.
In their defence document, the couple had earlier 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”.
Mazari, a prominent critic of Pakistan’s military, has represented journalists, ethnic minorities and families of victims of alleged enforced disappearances.
Human rights groups have criticised the prosecution, saying the couple are being targeted over their advocacy and criticism of alleged abuses, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Imaan’s mother, former human rights minister Shireen Mazari, 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”, adding that the defence would challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court.
‘An Indictment of Pakistan’s Justice System’
Amnesty International condemned the convictions, saying the proceedings had failed to uphold the couple’s right to a fair trial.
Yasmine Ahmed, the organisation’s senior director for regional human rights impact, said,
“These convictions are an indictment of Pakistan’s justice system. This was not just Imaan and Hadi on trial, it was a test of the judiciary’s ability to uphold the principles of justice and the right to fair trial. It has failed that test miserably.”
Ahmed said the lawyers had initially been barred from attending proceedings in person. When the trial was moved inside the prison, she said, they were kept behind a “cage-like structure” during hearings.
“It is clear that these ‘anti-terrorism’ charges are being used to punish Imaan and Hadi for their human rights advocacy,” she said, calling for their immediate release and the withdrawal of all charges.
Front Line Defenders, meanwhile, described the use of terrorism charges over the alleged removal of a traffic barrier, following an accelerated jail trial, as a “gross misuse of counter-terrorism law”.
The organisation said the conviction formed part of “a sustained pattern of successive criminal proceedings designed to keep the two lawyers in detention”, despite the Supreme Court’s order for their release.
The Supreme Court had suspended their sentences and granted bail in a separate case over social media posts on September 17, but the couple were re-arrested that day.
Front Line Defenders warned of a “chilling effect on the work of lawyers and human rights defenders in Pakistan who represent victims of abuses committed by the State”.
The organisation demanded their immediate and unconditional release and the dismissal of all convictions and cases against them. It also urged authorities to end the use of anti-terrorism and cybercrime laws to target dissent.