Lawyer Imaan Mazari. Photo:X
The controversial hearing on the tweets case of lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha in the District and Sessions Court of Islamabad has been adjourned to December 15 as their petition to the Islamabad High Court seeking transfer of the case is still pending.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka heard the matter and the lawyer couple was also present. “The petition is still pending before the Islamabad High Court,” the defense lawyer said.
The petition, alleging a lack of transparency on the part of Justice Majoka, was filed on Friday during the final hearing of the controversial tweets case in the District and Sessions Court. Mazari reportedly told the judge, smiling: “Give me the seven-year sentence, I’m ready.” » Judge Majoka did not respond.
Another petition, challenging the trial court’s order, was also filed in the IHC on December 1 by lawyer Ali Azad, representing Mazari and Chattha, who said “the trial court is not conducting a transparent trial.”
Defense lawyer Ali Azad expressed concern that the trial was not being conducted in a transparent manner. Ali Azad stressed, “A fair trial is my constitutional right. Statements of witnesses must be recorded in my presence. The trial court is not conducting a transparent trial. This is one of the many cases pending before this court. These are members of the bar and professional lawyers.”
Read: Mazari and her husband request transfer of their case due to bias
Mazari and her husband, Chattha, have already raised objections after their state-appointed attorney withdrew from the controversial case.
Before Tuesday’s hearing, Mazari also claimed that the court had “forcibly appointed a prosecutor for her and Chattha.”
The lawsuit received a lot of attention from the legal community; In the previous hearing on Friday, District Bar President Naeem Gujar, Islamabad Bar Member Raja Aleem Abbasi and former High Court Bar President Riyasat Ali Azad attended the hearing.
Lawyers present in court reportedly raised slogans, prompting Judge Majoka to leave the courtroom. Aurat March and the Karachi Bar Association have announced protests tomorrow morning outside the Karachi Municipal Courts, demanding a fair trial for Imaan Mazari and Chattha.
The groups believe the trial has been compromised and hope that the Islamabad High Court will accept their petition during the IHC hearing tomorrow. “Over the course of two weeks of this false case, he denied Imaan and Hadi the right to a fair trial and due process in multiple ways,” Aurat March said in a social media post.
Learn more: The trial against Imaan Mazari “is not transparent”, his lawyer tells IHC
The Islamabad Bar Association also called a strike on Friday against “the unfair trial of human rights defenders Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali”.
The National Cybercrime Investigation Agency filed a case against Mazari and Chattha; both are accused of posting “anti-state” remarks on X. The couple was formally charged on October 30, a day after Chattha was arrested outside the courtroom for failing to appear. Mazari argued that video footage showed him “inside and outside the courtroom.”
After his release, Chattha told reporters that he arrived five minutes early for the Oct. 29 trial, but the judge issued an arrest warrant “in front of him.”
