Imaan Mazari, husband spent second night in IHC Bar office fearing arrest

ISLAMABAD:

Rights activist and lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, spent a second consecutive night at the office of Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) president Wajid Gilani, citing fear of arrest as police maintained a heavy presence around the Islamabad High Court.

The pair had previously obtained bail on Wednesday in a case dating back to July 2025. However, they did not appear for a separate hearing on Thursday in connection with a controversial tweet case.

Mazari told the visitors that she was ready to surrender. “We don’t want any concessions. We are sitting here to surrender,” she said. “We’ll go ourselves – just tell us how many cases have been registered against us.”

District Bar Islamabad president Naeem Gujar criticized the police deployment around the court, saying the police had “barricaded the High Court from all four sides” and alleged lawyers were searched and harassed.

“The boots of lawyers’ vehicles are being checked and lawyers are being harassed,” Gujar said, appealing to the prime minister, home minister and army chief. He also demanded that the authorities provide a complete list of cases registered against Mazari and Chattha to ensure that trials follow due process.

Read: IHC grants two-day protective bail to Imaan Mazari, husband in a recent case

Chairman of the Islamabad Bar Council Executive Committee, Zafar Khokhar, echoed similar concerns over the treatment of lawyers. “It feels like there’s a law of the jungle here,” he said. “We demand that if the two have committed any crime, they should at least have the right to a fair trial.”

IHCBA president Wajid Gilani warned that the lawyer would intervene if the concerns were not addressed. “When someone files a bail application, no one has the right to harass them,” he said, stressing the need to respect legal rights.

Mazari and Chattha sought refuge at the bar office only on Tuesday evening after warrants were issued in connection with a newly surfaced FIR at Kohsar Police Station, Islamabad, dated July 26, 2025.

Read more: IHC restores bail, reinstates court of defense for Imaan Mazari, spouse

The FIR was filed following a protest by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and surfaced soon after the Islamabad High Court reinstated their bail in a separate case under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016.

Fearing arrest, the couple spent the night in the bar office as Gilani assured them, “Sit in my office. No one will arrest you from here.”

The situation has drawn criticism from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which described the FIR as “fabricated” and expressed concern over what it called continued harassment of the couple.