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Pakistan court jails rights activist couple for 10 years
Published : Friday, 30 October, 2026 at 7:32 PM
Observer Online Report
Collected Photo
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has sentenced prominent human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, to 10 years in prison each in a security breach case, according to Reuters.
The verdict was delivered on Thursday (October 29) at Adiala Jail. The court also sentenced them to one year for obstructing government officials and two years for assaulting public servants, with all sentences to run concurrently.
The couple were accused of disrupting security arrangements for an international cricket team in 2024 by staging a protest and blocking a road. They denied the allegations, claiming they were targeted for their human rights work.
Mazari and Chattha are known for campaigning against enforced disappearances and advocating the rights of minorities and journalists. Their conviction has drawn condemnation from human rights organisations.
They were earlier sentenced to 17 years each in a separate case over allegedly anti-state social media posts. The Supreme Court suspended those sentences on September 17, but police re-arrested them the same day in the security breach case.
Mazari's mother, former human rights minister Shireen Mazari, said the family would challenge the latest verdict in the Supreme Court.
-AH
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Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
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