Pakistan Court Jails Rights Lawyer Imaan Mazari and Her Husband for 10 Years

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Thursday sentenced human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, to 10 years in prison each in a security breach case, her family said, according to Reuters. Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra announced the verdict at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where the couple have been held since earlier this year.

The court also imposed additional sentences of two years and one year on separate charges of assaulting and obstructing government servants. Those sentences will run at the same time as the 10 year term, so they do not add to the total time in prison. The judgment, obtained by AFP, also imposed fines on the couple.

The case

Prosecutors accused the couple of endangering the security plans for the touring England cricket team on October 25, 2024. According to the case against them, they removed road barriers and blocked a route in Islamabad, and clashed with traffic police. The couple were indicted on October 7, 2026, and pleaded not guilty.

In its judgment, the court said the couple put the security of the England and Wales cricket team at risk and acted to create a sense of terror. That finding supported the conviction in the anti-terrorism court.

Prisoners of conscience, family says

Mazari and Chattha have described themselves as prisoners of conscience, in statements seen by Reuters. Her mother, Shireen Mazari, told Reuters the couple "were not permitted to defend themselves through their own lawyer, and were not provided with key legal documents."

"We will file a petition against the verdict in the Supreme Court," Shireen Mazari told Reuters.

Mazari has won international recognition for speaking out against the disappearances of political activists and for defending minorities and journalists. She is the daughter of Shireen Mazari, who served as human rights minister in the cabinet of former prime minister Imran Khan.

A second case

Thursday's verdict was not the couple's first sentence this year. They have been in custody since their arrest on January 23 in a separate case over social media posts. A sessions court sentenced each of them to 17 years the next day under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act. The Supreme Court suspended those sentences on September 17, and police re-arrested the couple the same day in the security breach case.

Pakistan's law minister, Azam Nazeer Tarar, has repeatedly said the country's judiciary is independent. The public prosecutor did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the verdict.