Imaan | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A district and sessions court on Saturday reissued non-bailable arrest warrants against Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, for their repeated absences from trial proceedings. In the case registered under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Peca), the two have been accused of inciting divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts and creating the impression that the armed forces were engaged in terrorism within the country. Court proceedings on Saturday were conducted over three sittings — 9am, noon and 2pm. At each stage, Imaan and Hadi were absent from the proceedings. In the certified copies of court orders dated January 17, Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka — presiding over the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Court (Islamabad-West) — noted that earlier warrants could not be executed despite repeated attempts by law enforcement and the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA). During the proceedings, officials ...

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday ordered the trial court hearing the controversial social media posts case against rights activist Imaan Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha to record witnesses’ statements afresh within three days. IHC’s Justice Mohammed Azam Khan passed the directives while hearing a petition filed by Mazari challenging the trial court’s November 19 order, when the court had recorded the testimonies of all prosecution witnesses. Chattha had appeared before the court while Imaan’s lawyers had marked her presence. The court, however, had ordered the prosecution to proceed with the witnesses’ testimonies. On Tuesday, IHC’s Justice Khan observed that witnesses’ statements should be recorded again and said that the case was being referred back to the trial court without touching its merits. During the hearing, defence counsel Riasat Ali Azad told the court that senior advocate Faisal Siddiqui had submitted his power of attorney but was busy with cases in Lahore, seeking a hearin...

The counsel appointed by the court for lawyer and rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, in a case pertaining to controversial social media posts refused to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses on Tuesday, saying that he could not “ask questions dictated” to him. He also alleged that he was not given enough time to prepare for the case, which was registered by the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA). Mazari and Chattha have been accused of attempting to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts and of creating the impression that the armed forces were engaged in terrorism within the country in the case. Additional District and Sessions Judge Mohammed Afzal Majoka resumed proceedings in the case in Islamabad today, where court-appointed defence counsel Advocate Shakeel Jatt alleged he was approached at around 4pm yesterday to represent Imaan and Chattha. He said that he had not been provided the case file to prepare in tim...

Former minister Shireen Mazari said on Saturday that a “heavily armed raiding party” of the Islamabad police had surrounded her house at 1am and enquired about her daughter, Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, and son-in-law, Hadi Ali Chattha. “At 1am this morning, a heavily armed raiding party of ICT police from Secretariat thana (police station) surrounded my home and asked for Imaan and Hadi. They were not there, and we informed them of the same. Cops said they had an FIR (first information report) against them and they should report to the thana. Eventually they left,” she posted on X. In a subsequent post, she referred to a protest at the Islamabad High Court yesterday, where Imaan — who is a lawyer and rights activist — and others had raised slogans in support of judicial independence. The lawyers had staged a protest on the premises of the IHC to oppose the suspension of Justice Tariq Mahmood Jahangiri from judicial work. Isl­a­mabad Bar Council member Ale­­em Abbasi, ex-president of the Islamabad High Court Ba...