ISLAMABAD: Lawyer and human rights activist Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha were arrested on Thursday and sent back to Adiala Jail on judicial remand by an Anti-Terrorism Court, hours after the Supreme Court had suspended their sentences and granted them bail in a separate case.
Islamabad police sources said the couple was arrested in connection with a case registered against them at Kohsar police station, which includes charges of anti-state narrative, incitement and interference in government affairs. They were produced before the ATC, which rejected a police request for 30 days of physical remand and instead sent both accused on judicial remand to Adiala Jail.
The court also ordered medical examinations of both and sought reports at the next hearing.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court had suspended the couple’s sentences in a case related to controversial tweets and granted them bail against surety bonds worth Rs200,000 each, until the final decision on the case pending before the Islamabad High Court.
Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan remarked during proceedings: “Both are lawyers; we are upholding their dignity,” also directing the petitioners to respect the decorum of the court. In January, a district and sessions court in Islamabad had sentenced Mazari and Chattha to 17 years in prison each under different sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, just a day after their arrest in another case.
The couple subsequently moved the IHC against the sentence in early February.
The couple had originally been booked by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency under Sections 9, 10, 11 and 26 of PECA, with an FIR alleging they had attempted to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts.
They were subsequently indicted on October 30. The Supreme Court’s bail order was effective until the IHC reached its final decision on the matter. –Agencies
