Pakistan rights activist Imaan Mazari and husband jailed for 10 years

What the report says

A Pakistani antiterrorism court has sentenced prominent human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, to 10 years in prison each on terrorism-related charges, according to Al Jazeera’s reporting from AFP and Reuters. Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra issued the ruling on Thursday after the trial was held inside Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, near Islamabad. The case stemmed from an October 2024 incident in which the couple allegedly removed road barriers on a route used for the visiting England cricket team.

The court found them guilty of endangering the team’s security, although the judgment also described the incident as a relatively ordinary barrier removal. Mazari and Chattha denied the charges and said they were “prisoners of conscience” being punished for their human rights work. In earlier defence filings, they argued the case was intended to intimidate others who challenge abuse and oppression.

Relatives and rights groups sharply criticised the verdict. Mazari’s mother, former human rights minister Shireen Mazari, called it a sham trial and said the couple were denied proper legal representation and key documents. Amnesty International said the convictions showed Pakistan’s justice system had failed a fair-trial test and accused authorities of using terrorism laws to target dissent. The couple had already been in custody in a separate social media case, highlighting the broader pressure on critics in Pakistan, where officials have repeatedly defended the judiciary’s independence.