A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sentenced two prominent human rights lawyers to 10 years in prison each over allegations that they disrupted security arrangements for England’s visiting cricket team by removing road barriers in Islamabad.
Rights groups have strongly condemned the process that saw Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, convicted on Thursday following a closed-doors trial held inside Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.
The case stemmed from an incident in October 2024, when the couple allegedly removed barricades erected by police along a route designated for the England cricket team during its visit to Pakistan.
According to the court judgment by judge Tahir Abbas Sipra, the pair were found guilty of endangering the visiting team's security and obstructing police officers carrying out their duties.
The court sentenced each of them to 10 years under sections of Pakistan's Anti-Terrorism Act, which covers serious coercion or intimidation of a public servant to compel them to perform, or refrain from performing, their lawful duties.
They were also handed one-year prison terms under sections of Pakistan Penal Code for obstructing public servants and two-year sentences under sections relating to assault or criminal force against public officials. All the sentences will run concurrently. Each was also fined PKR 200,000 (£540) across the three convictions.
The court acquitted the couple of separate charges relating to criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy and rioting.
Judge Sipra said the defendants had sought to “compromise the security arrangements through pressuring security officials”. Citing the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore, the judgment said the attempt to put the security of an international team visiting Pakistan at risk demonstrated an intention to “create sense of terror”.
The court also acknowledged that freedom of movement was a constitutional right, but said it remained subject to the law and that “nobody is allowed to attack/assault” law enforcement agencies.
The couple strongly denied the allegations and said they were being prosecuted because of their human rights work.
In statements recorded during the trial, they described themselves as “prisoners of conscience” and alleged that the evidence presented by the prosecution exposed misconduct by police officials rather than wrongdoing by the defendants.
Imaan said the couple had been denied their constitutional rights to a fair trial and due process. She alleged that they were made to appear in court from behind a cage-like structure, preventing effective communication with their lawyers and the judge.
“We are being made an example to further cement the chilling effect against those who stand (or want to stand) against tyranny, oppression and injustice,” she said.
In a statement to The Independent, Amnesty International condemned the convictions, describing them as an indictment of Pakistan's justice system.
Yasmine Ahmed, the organisation's senior director for regional human rights impact, said: “It is clear that these ‘anti-terrorism’ charges are being used to punish Imaan and Hadi for their human rights advocacy.
“Imaan and Hadi are being targeted solely because of their refusal to stop their fearless human rights work and for exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The weaponisation of anti-terror laws to target dissent has become a norm in Pakistan. This injustice must not continue – we urge the authorities to immediately release Imaan and Hadi and drop all charges against them.”
The couple, who have represented activists and marginalised communities, have faced multiple criminal cases over their work and public statements.
They were arrested on 23 January in a separate case linked to social media posts criticising Pakistan's military and expressing solidarity with Baloch and Pashtun activists. A sessions court sentenced them to 17 years in prison each the following day under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act.
The convictions drew criticism from lawyers, rights groups and United Nations experts. Pakistan's Supreme Court suspended the sentences on 17 September, ordering their release while the Islamabad High Court considered their appeals.
But the reprieve was short-lived. Police re-arrested the couple on the same day in connection with the security-barrier case, before they could be released.
Amnesty International's Babu Ram Pant, deputy regional director for South Asia, said their re-arrest showed that the charges were an attempt to punish them for their human rights work.
Shireen Mazari, mother of Imaan Mazari and a former human rights minister under imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan, has also criticised the proceedings.
She described the trial as a “sham trial without any due process” and alleged that the couple were not allowed to defend themselves through their own lawyer or given key legal documents, reported Reuters. She said the family would challenge the verdict before the Supreme Court.
Pakistan's law minister Azam Nazeer Tarar has repeatedly maintained that the country's judiciary is independent.
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