ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani court docket on Saturday sentenced two human rights legal professionals to 17 years in jail every over social media posts the authorities claimed have been hostile to the state and its safety establishments.
Decide Afzal Majoka introduced the decision a day after Zainab Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha have been arrested in Islamabad, in accordance with court docket paperwork.
The couple appeared briefly through video hyperlink however boycotted the listening to, prompting the court docket to conclude the trial and ship the decision. Household and pals denounced the ruling.
The court docket verdict stated Mazari had posted a number of tweets lately that “portrayed the agenda” of the outlawed Baloch separatist group and Pakistani Taliban.
The case stems from a grievance filed in August 2025 with the Nationwide Cyber Crime Investigation Company, alleging the couple used social media to malign the state and its safety establishments. They have been formally indicted final October and had repeatedly refused to seem in court docket.
In his verdict, the decide talked about the grievance which alleged that Mazari “constantly disseminated extremely offensive, deceptive and anti-state contents on social media”, with the “lively connivance” of her husband.
The prosecution additionally accused Mazari of propagating a “narrative that aligned with hostile terrorist teams and proscribed organizations and people.”
The couple, who have been formally indicted final October and had repeatedly refused to seem in court docket, denied the adjustments.
Worldwide and home rights teams condemned the arrest of Mazari and her husband and known as for his or her speedy launch.
Amnesty Worldwide stated in an announcement Friday that the couple’s detention marked “the most recent escalation in a sustained marketing campaign of judicial harassment and intimidation by the Pakistani authorities.”
It stated Mazari and Chattha have been arrested whereas on their solution to a court docket listening to, with eyewitnesses reporting that legislation enforcement officers used extreme power. No causes got for the arrests on the time, elevating critical issues concerning the couple’s security.
Human rights activists in Pakistan have more and more come below strain from the federal government, which has been cracking down on criticism and dissent. Mazari and Chattha usually represented journalists, political figures and human rights activists who had been detained by the safety forces with out formal prices or court docket appearances.
Mazari is the daughter of Shireen Mazari, Pakistan’s former human rights minister who served below imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan. She denounced the decision on X as “completely unlawful.”
Pakistan’s Data Minister Attaullah Tarar praised the decision towards the pair. “As you sow, so shall you reap!” he wrote on X, including that they’d been sentenced below the cyber legal guidelines.
