SC suspends Imaan, Hadi's sentences in controversial social media posts case
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday suspended the sentences of human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her spouse, Hadi Ali Chattha, in the controversial social media posts case.
The development came as a two-judge SC bench, comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, took up the couple’s appeals against the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) refusal in February to suspend the sentences.
On January 24, an Islamabad sessions court sentenced Imaan and Hadi to a total of 17 years in jail on multiple charges under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca). The convictions of the couple, who had already been jailed the day before in a separate case, were widely condemned by lawyers and United Nations (UN) experts.
On Thursday, the SC ordered the couple’s release after granting them bail against surety bonds of Rs200,000. It ordered their release on bail pending the IHC’s final verdict.
“Both are lawyers and we are keeping their honour,” observed Justice Afghan, but also asked senior counsel Faisal Siddiqui, the couple’s lawyer, to tell the appellants to observe the court’s decorum.
“There is a difference between a lawyer and an ordinary person,” the judge observed.
Siddiqui argued that the SC had issued its first order on May 12 in which the IHC was asked to decide the applicants’ petition for suspension of sentence as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of two weeks.
The counsel also read out the order sheets from various IHC hearings.
During the hearing, the court directed Additional Attorney General Rana Asadullah Khan, who was standing at the rostrum, to take a seat, adding that the court will hear Siddiqui first.
The case
Imaan and Hadi have been in jail since their arrest on January 23 in a case registered against them for protesting outside the IHC and allegedly manhandling the IHC Bar Association (IHCBA) president. The arrest prompted criticism by rights bodies, politicians and journalists, who stressed the couple’s right to a fair trial.
Just a day later, a sessions court convicted Imaan and Hadi in the social media posts case.
It sentenced the duo to 10 years’ imprisonment under Section 10 (cyber terrorism), five years’ imprisonment under Section 9 (glorification of an offence) and two years’ imprisonment under Section 26-A (false and fake information) of Peca.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed on Aug 12, 2025 by the assistant director (investigating officer) at the NCCIA Islamabad, before the Federal Investigation Agency’s Cybercrime Reporting Centre.
The complaint accused Imaan of disseminating and “propagating narratives that align with hostile terrorist groups and proscribed organisations”, while her husband was implicated for reposting some of her posts.
The first information report (FIR) in the case alleged that the two held security forces responsible for cases of missing persons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
It also stated that they had portrayed the armed forces as ineffective against proscribed groups, including the banned outfits Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Judge Majoka had indicted Imaan and Hadi in the case on Oct 30, 2025 and issued arrest warrants for the couple on Nov 5, 2025. The judge then reissued arrest warrants for them in January after repeated non-appearances.
More to follow
