ISLAMABAD: Lawyer and rights activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, were arrested by the police on Friday, apparently in a case related to an altercation at the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The couple was arrested in the IHC bar van while on their way to the District and Sessions Court in Islamabad from the bar office.
The police confiscated the phones of Mazari and Chattha and transferred them to the women’s police station. Sources said they were arrested in connection with an altercation outside the IHC.
An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in the federal capital on Thursday rejected the bail pleas of Mazari and Chattha in the case due to their absence from the hearing.
The case was registered following the complaint of the president of the IHC Bar Association, Wajid Ali Gilani, following a heated exchange of remarks during a demonstration in front of the Bar office. Both had filed bail applications before their arrest in the case.
In response to this development, the IHC bar called a strike to protest against the “illegal” arrest of Mazari and Chattha.
Moreover, the two had also been summoned today by Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka in the controversial tweets case. The local court judge had ordered Mazari and Chattha to appear today at 8:30 a.m. after their repeated absences during the last hearings.
The two men are charged in a case registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) under sections 9, 10, 11 and 26 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Peca) and were subsequently charged on October 30.
The first information report (FIR) alleges that the couple tried to create divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts.
Additional Judge Majoka had issued arrest warrants against the couple earlier this month over their continued non-appearance. However, their bail was reinstated by the IHC earlier this week.
IHC Judge Muhammad Azam Khan also restored their right to defense and stayed the order given by Majoka, citing the accused’s failure to appear before the court.
Last month, Mazari and Chattha filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (IHC), expressing distrust in Justice Majoka and seeking transfer of the controversial tweets case to another court.
This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.
