'Absolutely absurd verdict': Lawyers, journalists react to Imaan, Hadi's sentencing in security breach case

Human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, were convicted for the second time in less than a year on Thursday. This time, the couple was sentenced to 10 years in a security breach case following a jail trial.

The 2024 case pertained to the alleged disruption of an international cricket team’s security route and incitement to public unrest. The couple, accused of removing barriers from the route, was indicted on Oct 7.

After an anti-terrorism court pronounced them guilty, journalists and lawyers raised questions and expressed reservations.

Legal adviser for the International Commission of Jurists Reema Omer termed the convictions “cruel, vindictive and textbook examples of using law and the judicial process as weapons of persecution”.

“Imaan and Hadi are prisoners of conscience,” she posted on X.

Lawyer Rida Hosain said the convictions were “a stain on our judicial system”.

“Those entrusted with upholding the rule of law are weaponising it to persecute courageous human rights lawyers.

“This only further exposes a system that is functioning as an instrument of repression,” she said.

Op-ed editor at The News, Zebunnisa Burki, reacted to the development with “beyond ridiculous”.

Journalist Zarrar Khuhro also pointed out that the couple was sentenced to 10 years for “removing a barrier”.

“A decade in jail is what rapists usually get,” he said.

Journalist Asma Shirazi reacted to the news by calling it “reprehensible and regrettable”.

Journalist Maryam Nawaz Khan criticised the judgement saying: “A sham/ secret trial delivers a sham sentence. Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha, two human rights lawyers, sentenced to 10 years in prison over road barriers they maintain they never removed. First, their tweets; now, this. Criminalising dissent and persecuting lawyers is an assault on fundamental rights and constitutional freedoms. This sentence is outrageous and unlawful.”

Academic Nida Kirmani said the couple was “paying the price for standing up to a cruel and vindictive state run by petty men with fragile egos”.

“Absolutely absurd verdict,” she said.

Journalist Saqib Bashir said the couple was sentenced without a “transparent” trial.

“This is a mockery of the judiciary and the justice system; it is a judicial murder of dissenting voices,” former Jamaat-i-Islami senator Mushtaq Ahmed said.

“Imaan and Hadi are strong voices against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings and that is their only crime,” he said.

“Those who speak up for justice face jail. Those who justify the state’s dictatorial actions ascend to higher positions,” journalist Veengas said.