A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Thursday sentenced human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, to ten years in prison each in a security breach case dating back to 2024. The verdict was announced at Adiala Jail, where the couple have been held since earlier this year, and was confirmed to reporters by Mazari's family. Alongside the main sentence, the court imposed further terms of one year and two years on separate charges of obstructing and assaulting government servants, but all sentences will run at the same time, leaving the effective term at ten years.

The case behind the sentence

The prosecution case centred on a protest in which the couple were accused of endangering the security arrangements for a visiting international cricket team by blocking a road and interfering with official duties. Mazari and Chattha have denied the charges, describing themselves in statements as prisoners of conscience who are being targeted for their human rights work. Her mother, Shireen Mazari, told Reuters the couple had not been allowed to defend themselves through their own lawyer and had not been given key legal documents, and said the family will petition the Supreme Court against the verdict.

A longer history

The couple's detention has a longer history. They were arrested on 23 January in a separate case over social media posts that prosecutors described as anti-state, and a sessions court sentenced each of them to 17 years the following day under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act. The Supreme Court suspended those sentences on 17 September, but police re-arrested the pair the same day in the security breach case that has now produced the ten-year terms. Pakistan's law minister, Azam Nazeer Tarar, has repeatedly said the judiciary is independent.

Sources: Reuters, The Standard.