Imaan, Hadi Sentenced to 10 Years Each
An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad sentenced human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, to 10 years in prison each on Thursday. The Imaan Hadi ATC sentence came in the security breach case, in which the couple faced a jail trial over a 2024 incident.
The court had reserved its verdict on Tuesday, after the couple recorded their statements and the state counsel finished final arguments. It announced on Thursday that both accused would serve 10 years each. The report of the verdict did not state whether any fine was also imposed, and that detail remains unconfirmed.
The case centred on the alleged disruption of an international cricket team’s security route and incitement to public unrest. The couple were accused of removing barriers from the route. They were indicted on October 7, after months of hearings in the jail trial.
Imaan Hadi ATC sentence: how the trial reached its verdict
The trial moved quickly in its final stage. On October 27, both accused recorded statements under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which gives an accused person the chance to answer the evidence against them. Final arguments by the state counsel also concluded during those proceedings.
In their statements, the couple said the case was nothing more than harassment for their legal and human rights work. They described it as part of a broader pattern of targeting through reprisals. The court then reserved its verdict and said it would be pronounced on October 29.
The case was registered at the Kohsar police station in Islamabad on March 22 last year, on the complaint of City Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Chandio. The long gap before indictment reflects the many rounds of litigation around it, including challenges to the framing of charges and the terrorism provisions.
On Monday, the couple approached the Supreme Court to challenge an Islamabad High Court order of October 19. That order had refused to stay the trial. The High Court had heard their appeals the previous week against an October 10 anti-terrorism court order. That order had dismissed petitions challenging the framing of charges and the terrorism provisions. The High Court issued notices and said it would decide how to proceed after receiving responses from the parties.
A case that followed another conviction
The sentence is the latest turn in a legal battle that has run through most of 2026 for the couple. They have been in jail since their arrest on January 23, in a case registered over a protest outside the Islamabad High Court. That case accused them of manhandling the president of the High Court Bar Association.
A day after that arrest, a sessions court sentenced them to 17 years on multiple charges under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act. That case concerned controversial social media posts. The convictions drew wide condemnation from lawyers and United Nations experts, who stressed the couple’s right to a fair trial.
On September 17, the Supreme Court suspended those sentences. It ordered their release pending the High Court’s final verdict on their appeals against the trial court decision. The reprieve lasted only hours. Islamabad police arrested the couple again the same day in connection with the security breach case, and they have remained in custody since.
Feature Pakistan has followed each stage of the case. The couple’s challenge to the trial reached the Supreme Court this week, while their appeals against the trial court orders were heard by the High Court last week. Earlier coverage recorded the cross-examination stage of the security breach trial and the changes in the state’s legal team during the proceedings.
What happens next
The most immediate question is whether the couple will appeal. A conviction by an anti-terrorism court can be challenged before the High Court, and the couple’s legal team has fought every earlier order in this case through appeals. Their Supreme Court petition against the refusal to stay the trial is also still pending, and its fate may now change in light of the verdict.
The High Court is also still seized of their appeals in the social media posts case, in which their sentences stand suspended. The two cases are separate, but both will shape how long the couple remain in prison.
