Pakistan Court Sentences Rights Lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha to 10 Years in Prison

Pakistan Court Sentences Rights Lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha to 10 Years in Prison

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Thursday sentenced prominent human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, to 10 years in prison in a security breach case, their family said. The verdict was announced at Adiala Jail, where the couple have been held since earlier this year, and the court also handed down additional one-year and two-year sentences on separate charges of obstructing and assaulting government servants, to run concurrently.

Mazari has won international recognition for speaking out against the disappearances of political activists and for defending minorities and journalists, and rights groups have condemned the couple's imprisonment. The case stems from a 2024 protest in which the couple were accused of endangering an international cricket team's security plans by blocking a road. In statements seen by Reuters, they denied the charges, calling themselves prisoners of conscience targeted for their human rights work.

Mazari's mother, Shireen Mazari, who served as human rights minister in jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's cabinet, told Reuters the couple were not permitted to defend themselves through their own lawyer and were not given key legal documents. Pakistan's law minister, Azam Nazeer Tarar, has repeatedly said the judiciary is independent. The couple were arrested on January 23 in a separate social media case, and although the Supreme Court suspended 17-year sentences in that case on September 17, police re-arrested them the same day in the security case. The family says it will appeal to the Supreme Court.

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