Two high-profile Pakistani human rights advocates, Imaan Mazari and her spouse Hadi Ali Chattha—renowned legal representatives for marginalized communities, at-risk journalists, and activists targeted over enforced disappearance claims—have been handed a combined maximum 10-year concurrent prison term by an Islamabad anti-terrorism court over alleged violations linked to England’s 2024 cricket tour of the country.
The latest ruling stems from an October 25, 2024, incident at Islamabad’s high-traffic Zero Point cloverleaf junction, where prosecutors allege the pair removed security road barriers designated for the English cricket team’s official convoy and physically obstructed on-duty law enforcement personnel. The court convicted the couple under Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act for the primary charge, alongside additional one-year and two-year sentences for obstructing public servants and using force against state officials respectively, with all terms set to run simultaneously. Each was also ordered to pay a fine of 200,000 Pakistani Rupees, equivalent to roughly £541 or $723 USD.
This latest conviction adds to a tangled, years-long sequence of legal proceedings that have kept the pair in near-continuous custody since their initial January 23 arrest outside the Islamabad High Court, tied to an alleged altercation at the premises. Just one day after that first arrest, the couple was sentenced to up to 17 years in prison under the country’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, over social media posts that criticized the Pakistani military. While the Supreme Court of Pakistan suspended those 17-year sentences in August and formally granted the pair bail on September 17, authorities re-arrested Mazari and Chattha the very same day in connection to a separate March 2025 protest case, where they were accused of chanting anti-government slogans and blocking public roads. The pair has remained detained at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail for months.
Throughout the latest trial proceedings, which were moved behind prison walls, the couple was held in a cage-like enclosed structure during all hearings. In official testimonies submitted to local outlet Dawn News, both described themselves as prisoners of conscience targeted by state persecution. Chattha emphasized that his sentence was a direct consequence of standing in solidarity with his wife’s human rights work and choosing to dedicate their shared lives to resisting systemic injustice. The pair previously stated that the cascading legal actions against them were intended to serve as a public warning, designed to amplify a chilling effect that discourages other dissenting voices from pushing back against tyranny and oppression.
International human rights watchdog Amnesty International has issued a scathing rebuke of the latest conviction, noting that the couple was systematically denied access to an open, fair, and transparent trial. Yasmine Ahmed, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Regional Human Rights Impact, stated that the rulings against Mazari and Chattha represent a damning indictment of Pakistan’s national justice system, clarifying that the pair is being targeted exclusively for refusing to abandon their fearless human rights advocacy, and for exercising their fundamental rights to free expression and peaceful assembly. The couple’s long track record of representing vulnerable groups, alongside Mazari’s family ties to former Pakistani human rights minister Shireen Mazari—who served under ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan’s administration—have made their ongoing legal battles a flashpoint for global concern over shrinking civil liberties in Pakistan.
Human rights lawyer couple sentenced to 10 years’ prison in Pakistan
