Court Action on Non-Appearance
A District and Sessions Court in Islamabad reissued non-bailable arrest warrants on Wednesday for lawyer and activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, following their failure to appear in court. The couple is facing charges related to a controversial social media post.
Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka issued the warrants and also served show-cause notices to the couple before adjourning the hearing until the following day.
Source: Online
Details of the Case and Previous Arrests
Mazari and Chattha are named in a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCIA). The charges allege that the couple attempted to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through their social media activity.
The FIR invokes multiple sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, specifically Sections 9, 10, 11, and 26.
This is not the first time the couple has faced legal trouble related to their activism.
- Recent Arrest: Just last week, Chattha was arrested outside the court after Judge Majoka ordered his apprehension and the cancellation of his bail bonds due to his non-appearance at the October 29 hearing.
- October 2024 Incident: The couple was arrested in October 2024 for alleged interference in government operations, specifically for reportedly “creating a security risk” and removing road barriers during the England cricket team’s visit.
- August 2023 Cases: Mazari was taken into custody in August 2023, initially in a sedition case alongside former lawmaker Ali Wazir. Even after securing bail in that case, she was immediately re-arrested outside Adiala Jail in connection with a separate terrorism case, before eventually being freed on bail in September 2023.
