Pakistani human rights legal representative and activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her hubby, fellow legal representative Hadi Ali Chattha, have actually been sentenced to 10 years in jail each by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Imaan Hazari, partner handed 10-year jail term
The decision, provided on 29 October 2026, associates with an event in Islamabad in October 2024, when the couple apparently eliminated roadway barriers put along a path protected for the checking out England cricket group.
The case has actually drawn in substantial attention since Mazari is a popular human rights attorney understood for representing individuals who have actually dealt with supposed abuses by state companies, consisting of reporters, activists and members of minority neighborhoods.
She has actually likewise been a singing critic of Pakistan’s military facility and its record on human rights.
The couple have actually rejected the charges and explained themselves as detainees of conscience, declaring that the procedures are linked to their human rights work.
The current sentence is likewise not their very first encounter with the Pakistani justice system this year. They were formerly sentenced to 17 years in a different case including social networks posts, before Pakistan’s Supreme Court suspended those sentences in September.
Who is Imaan Mazari?
Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir is a Pakistani legal representative and human rights activist who has actually developed a public profile through her deal with cases including supposed human rights infractions, enforced disappearances and the treatment of political activists.
She has actually represented individuals from various areas of Pakistani society, consisting of reporters, political activists and households inquiring about family members presumably apprehended by security firms. Her work has actually likewise concentrated on the rights of spiritual and ethnic minorities, ladies’s rights and liberty of expression.
Mazari is the child of Shireen Mazari, a previous Pakistani federal minister for human rights who served in Imran Khan’s federal government. Her mom has actually likewise been a popular political figure and a singing critic of the treatment of political challengers in Pakistan.
Throughout the years, Imaan has actually ended up being understood for speaking freely about supposed abuses by the nation’s security facility. Her public declarations and legal work have actually regularly brought her into dispute with the authorities.
Her other half, Hadi Ali Chattha, is likewise a legal representative and human rights supporter. The 2 have actually operated in the legal field and have actually dealt with criminal procedures together.
Their work has actually gotten global acknowledgment. In 2026, the Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize was collectively granted to Mazari and Chattha for their work protecting human rights and the guideline of law.
Why were Imaan Mazari and her other half imprisoned for ten years?
The current case go back to October 2024, when England’s cricket group was visiting Pakistan. Security plans had actually been put in location in Islamabad, consisting of obstructions and barriers along paths designated for the going to group.
According to the prosecution, Mazari and Chattha got rid of a few of these barriers, blocked cops workers and disrupted security plans. Authorities declared that their actions put the checking out cricket group’s security at threat and might have motivated public discontent.
The couple contested the prosecution’s variation of occasions. Mazari preserved that they had actually been dropped in authorities at an obstruction while she was attempting to reach court to represent a customer.
The case was signed up at Islamabad’s Kohsar police headquarters in March 2025. The couple were consequently charged under arrangements of the Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act.
They pleaded innocent when the trial started. The procedures ultimately happened inside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, with the court recording declarations from 7 prosecution witnesses.
On 29 October, 2026, Anti-Terrorism Court judge Tahir Abbas Sipra sentenced both Mazari and Chattha to 10 years of extensive jail time each under Section 7(h) of Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act.
They were likewise founded guilty under 2 arrangements of the Pakistan Penal Code. The court handed them 1 year sentences under Section 186 for blocking public servants and two-year sentences under Section 353 for attacking or utilizing criminal force versus public servants.
The extra sentences will run simultaneously with the 10-year terms. The court likewise enforced fines under the various arrangements.
In its thinking, the court stated the occurrence put the England cricket group’s security at danger and suggested an intent to produce a sense of fear. The judgement likewise explained the real occurrence as an obviously regular case including the elimination of a barrier.
What is the debate surrounding the case?
The sentencing has actually activated criticism from human rights organisations, attorneys and activists, who have actually questioned the intensity of the penalty and the fairness of the procedures.
Mazari and Chattha have actually preserved that they are being targeted due to the fact that of their work as human rights attorneys and their criticism of Pakistan’s effective military facility. In their defence, they argued that the case was meant to prevent individuals from speaking versus declared state excesses.
Their household has actually likewise raised issues about the trial. Shireen Mazari explained the procedures as a sham trial, declaring that the couple were not enabled to protect themselves through their own attorney and were not supplied with essential legal files.
Amnesty International condemned the convictions, arguing that anti-terrorism arrangements were being utilized to penalize the couple for their human rights advocacy. The organisation likewise raised issues about their right to a reasonable trial.
The authorities, nevertheless, have actually continued with the prosecution, keeping that the case worries the interruption of security plans throughout a worldwide cricket group’s check out.
Why were they formerly sentenced to 17 years?
A vital part of the debate is that the 10-year sentence is different from another criminal case including the couple.
In January 2026, Mazari and Chattha were sentenced to 17 years in jail each in a case including their social networks posts. The prosecution declared that their online declarations promoted an anti-state story and breached arrangements of Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act.
The convictions brought in criticism from global human rights organisations and United Nations specialists, who raised issues about liberty of expression and making use of cybercrime laws versus federal government critics.
The couple challenged the convictions. On September 17, Pakistan’s Supreme Court suspended their sentences and bought their release while their appeals were pending before the Islamabad High Court.
Their release was temporary. The Islamabad cops jailed them once again within hours, this time in connection with the different cricket security breach case.
The 29 October decision has actually now led to another 10-year jail sentence for each of them.
In the meantime, the couple stay at the centre of a legal and political debate in Pakistan. Their fans see the convictions as part of a larger pattern of pressure on legal representatives and activists tough state organizations, while the prosecution keeps that the case worries a breach of security plans.
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