Islamabad, Sept 17 (PTI) Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of a human rights lawyer couple after suspending their controversial sentences over social media posts.
Imaan Mazari-Hazir and her spouse, Hadi Ali Chattha, were sentenced to 17 years in jail by a court in January on charges under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).
They challenged the conviction in the Islamabad High Court, which refused to suspend the convictions while delaying the final verdict on appeals.
The couple then filed a challenge in the Supreme Court.
A two-judge apex court bench, headed by Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and also including Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, took up their appeals.
The apex court accepted their appeal against surety bonds of PKRs 200,000 and ordered their release.
“Both are lawyers, and we are keeping their honour,” observed Justice Afghan, but also asked senior counsel Faisal Siddiqui, the couple’s lawyer, to tell the appellants to observe the court’s decorum.
Earlier, the apex court had repeatedly adjourned hearings in the case on the grounds that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had fixed their application for suspension of sentence along with the main appeal.
However, the top court proceeded with the hearing and decided the case while exonerating the couple. The lawyer couple have been in jail since their arrest on January 23 in a case registered against them for protesting outside the IHC and allegedly manhandling the IHC Bar Association (IHCBA) president.
The arrest prompted criticism by rights bodies, politicians and journalists, who stressed the couple’s right to a fair trial.
Just a day later, a sessions court convicted Imaan and Hadi in the social media posts case.
The case was based on a complaint filed on August 12, 2025, accusing Imaan of disseminating and “propagating narratives that align with hostile terrorist groups and proscribed organisations”, while her husband was implicated for reposting some of her posts.
The first information report (FIR) in the case alleged that the two held security forces responsible for cases of missing persons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
The case attracted international attention and the conviction was also criticised by the UN experts.
UN special rapporteurs Margaret Satterthwaite, Ben Saul, Mary Lawlor, Irene Khan and Gina Romero noted in a statement in February that the two were convicted on multiple criminal charges, which resulted in lengthy prison sentences “for simply exercising rights guaranteed by international human rights law”. PTI SH ZH ZH
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