ISLAMABAD(National Times)- The Islamabad Bar Association (IBA) has announced a boycott of court proceedings in the federal capital on Saturday (September 19) to protest the rearrest of human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, after the Supreme Court suspended their sentences and ordered their release on bail.
Imaan and Hadi were arrested late on Thursday in a second case after the SC ordered their release in a case pertaining to their posts on social media. The couple was sentenced to 17 years on multiple charges under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) in the case.
However, soon after their release on Thursday, Islamabad police personnel arrested the two outside Adiala jail in connection with another case and produced them before an anti-terrorism court, which sent them to jail on judicial remand.
The second case was registered at the federal capital’s Kohsar police station on March 22, 2025 on a complaint by City Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Chandio. Imaan and her husband were accused of chanting anti-government slogans and blocking roads and were named in the first information report (FIR).
The IBA expressed concern over the couple’s rearrest in a statement on Friday and announced that lawyers would not appear before any court in the capital on Sept 19 (Saturday).
The bar association said the arrest undermined the sanctity of judicial proceedings and amounted to a violation of fundamental rights and the rule of law.
It also expressed strong reservations over the practice of arresting individuals in connection with “unknown” FIRs. The IBA held that any attempt to circumvent or frustrate court orders was unacceptable.
It demanded the immediate release of Imaan and Hadi and called for complete details of the cases and circumstances surrounding their arrests to be made public.
The association vowed to take every possible measure to safeguard judicial independence, uphold the rule of law and protect fundamental human rights.
Amnesty International, HRCP demand immediate and unconditional release
Global rights watchdog Amnesty International condemned the arrest and held that the action demonstrated “authorities’ willingness to weaponise the legal system against critical voices”.
“Imaan and Hadi’s re-arrest dispels any pretence that the charges against them are anything other than a politically motivated attempt to punish them for their human rights work,” rights body’s South Asia director, Babu Ram Pant, said in a statement.
Pant held that charges were “not only absurd, but an insult to their lifelong commitment to human rights”.
The official called on the Pakistani authorities to release the couple immediately and “unconditionally, with no further charges to prolong their detention”.
“Imaan and Hadi should be free to meet their friends and family and to do the work they love – representing victims of human rights violations.”
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, in a post on X, also demanded Imaan and Hadi’s release and withdrawal of all cases against them.
