Lawyer, husband boycott Islamabad court case over ‘controversial tweet’ case
Lawyer and human rights activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, lawyer Hadi Ali Chattha. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
Human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, lawyer Hadi Ali Chattha, appeared before a district court in Islamabad via video link on Saturday, with Mazari alleging mistreatment in custody and announcing a boycott of the case.
The hearing in the controversial tweet case was conducted by Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka. At the outset, the judge asked the accused if they would begin cross-examination, noting that it was the last day for cross-examination in view of the Islamabad High Court orders.
“Is the media present in court?” Mazari asked at the hearing before claiming: “We are being tortured. We are not getting food or water.”
Addressing the judge directly, she said: “You’re just doing your job,” adding: “Everything that happens is because of you.”
Mazari then announced: “We are boycotting the trial.”
The judge responded by asking, “You mean you don’t want to be part of the case?” and told them to “wait for the decision.”
Before the hearing ended, Mazari and Chattha stood up and left their chairs while still on the video link. Judge Majoka ordered court staff to record the entire case, saying: “Record everything and give it to me.”
Earlier in the day, the court allowed Mazari and her husband to be produced via video link after police sought permission, citing security concerns and requesting five to six hours to secure their physical production.
Also Read: Lawyers Imaan, Hadi Sent Into 14-Day Remand By Islamabad ATC After Arrest
The hearing took place at the District and Sessions Courts in Islamabad, where Judge Majoka had earlier directed the SSP Operations and the Deputy Director of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency to ensure that the accused were presented in court at 10:00 a.m. He had noted that Saturday was the last day for cross-examination following the high court’s order.
Police officials gave their response during the hearing, stating that due to security concerns and other reasons, video link performance should be allowed.
Mazari and Chattha were arrested on Friday near the underpass outside Serena Hotel while on their way to the district courts. An anti-terror court later sent them to 14 days in custody.
Former human rights minister Shireen Mazari, Imaan’s mother, said in a post on X that the pair had been “surreptitiously presented” to the anti-terror court, lawyers were not allowed in and the first information report was not given despite court orders.
She later claimed they were “never even presented to the judge” and were kept in a vehicle and taken away to hide their condition after what she described as violence during and after arrest.
According to the FIR shared by Shireen Mazari, the case includes charges under several sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act. The case relates to a protest by lawyers against a meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan on February 10 last year.
Journalists present at the scene claimed that police forcefully seized cell phones from journalists covering the arrests. This was told by journalist Asad Ali Toor Express Pakinomist he saw police manhandling Mazari and severely beating her husband during the arrest.
Islamabad High Court Bar Association president Wajid Gilani and former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokar also condemned the arrests, with Khokar saying the inclusion of terrorism charges over a peaceful protest “trivializes the anti-terror law.”
