Lawyers on strike to protest arrests of Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha halt all legal proceedings, Islamabad High Court PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
Islamabad lawyers began a three-day strike on Monday following the arrest and conviction of lawyers Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, with boycotts halting legal proceedings in the capital.
Islamabad High Court Bar Association secretary Manzoor Jajja confirmed that lawyers had been asked not to appear in court. “Today, lawyers staged a strike outside the Islamabad High Court. The lawyers did not appear in court as requested,” he said.
Jajja said lawyers must remain united against what he described as police oppression and announced they would travel in convoy to district courts to formally register their protest. A rally then moved from the deputy commissioner’s office to the nearby SSP office, where lawyers chanted slogans against the police.
The Islamabad Bar Association also barred police from entering the court premises. The lawyers expelled the police officers who were stationed in the court canteen. Earlier in the day, a separate protest took place outside the Sessions Judge East court, where additional police officers were deployed to maintain order.
The strike also surfaced during a hearing of a civil case in the Islamabad High Court. Lawyer Qaiser Abbas Gondal, appearing for one of the parties, informed the court that the strike was being observed in response to the detention of lawyers. He added that the bar secretary was also supposed to appear in the matter, but was not present due to the strike.
Read: Lawyers Imaan and Hadi sent to 14-day remand by Islamabad ATC after arrest
IHC Chief Justice Sarfraz Dogar sought details of the arrests, asking: “Which lawyers were arrested? Gondal replied that Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha had been arrested.
The Chief Justice then asked, “Do you consider them lawyers?” Gondal did not answer. “If you regard them as lawyers, you can come to the chamber and express your opinion,” the chief justice added.
Due to the strike, no progress was made during scheduled court hearings.
Mazari and Chattha were arrested in Islamabad on Friday while they were reportedly on their way to the district courts. An anti-terrorism court then remanded them for 14 days.
The next day, a district court and a magistrate court found the couple guilty in a case related to controversial social media posts and sentenced them to 17 years in prison.
The case focuses on alleged posts and reposts on X, formerly Twitter, that authorities described as “anti-state.” The National Cybercrime Investigation Agency registered the case in August last year under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) 2016, alleging that the content was intended to incite divisions and portray a negative image of state institutions.
Learn more: “Serious judicial error”: civil society denounces the convictions of Imaan and Hadi in a case posted on social networks
The couple appeared in court via video link. Mazari alleged mistreatment in detention and announced a boycott of the proceedings.
Under the verdict, both were sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 million each under Section 9 of the Peca, with one year’s simple imprisonment in case of default. Under Section 10, they were sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 30 million each, with two years’ simple imprisonment in case of default. Under Section 26A, they were sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 million each, with six months’ simple imprisonment in case of default.
Political parties, parliamentarians and members of the legal community have condemned these convictions and sentences.
