Lawyer Mirza Moiz says move reflects state’s ‘growing insecurity’, Jibran Nasir calls arrest ‘witch hunt’
Human rights lawyer and social activist Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha. Photo file
Lawyer and human rights activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, lawyer Hadi Ali Chattha, were arrested on Friday in Islamabad while reportedly on their way to the district courts, drawing immediate and strong condemnation from journalists, parliamentarians and the legal community, who called for their protection and a fair trial.
They were subsequently sent to 14-day custody by an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad.
Read: Imaan, Hadi arrested, whereabouts unknown: Shireen Mazari
“Growing Uncertainty”
Lawyer Mirza Moiz Baig said the arrests reflected what he described as the state’s “growing insecurity” and warned that a “series of malicious cases” against the two were aimed at silencing dissent.
He said the action was “intended to have a chilling effect” on those who defend human rights and represent marginalized communities, adding that the pair’s criticism of the judiciary following recent changes may also explain why they did not receive legal aid.
Commenting on the likely timeline for the couple’s release, Baig said it was “unlikely” in the immediate term, adding that unless the Islamabad High Court quashed the case against them, the couple could remain in custody for “at least a week or ten days”.
‘Contempt for any form of the rule of law’
Barrister Asad Rahim Khan said the pair were “in no way, at the forefront of the defense of human rights in this country” and their courage was “exemplary”.
He added that “making an arrest like this shows this regime’s contempt for any form of rule of law”.
He said every bar in every city and province “must make common cause for their immediate release”.
Imaan and Hadi’s arrests mean that anyone who has the courage to stand up for Pakistan’s most vulnerable will be persecuted and silenced; that any rights – for anyone – can lapse from one day to the next.
Please raise your voice.
— Asad Rahim Khan (@AsadRahim) 23 January 2026
‘Motivated and manufactured’
Civil rights practitioner Asad Jamal said that based on available information, it could be “certainly established that these cases against Imaan and Hadi are motivated and fabricated”.
He said provincial and federal governments had “weaponized” the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) as well as the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act (Peca).
“Similarly, I believe, the powerful quarters of the Pakistani state have decided to make an example of Imaan and Hadi by keeping them behind bars for months and even years. I don’t imagine because this friendly intractable behavior by state institutions and governments of the day is nothing new.”
‘Larger context of political victimization’
Lawyer and civil rights activist Jibran Nasir condemned the arrests, saying: “The witch hunt of lawyers Imaan and Hadi proves that there is no tolerance for expressions of solidarity with Baloch voices.”
He added: “It must also be understood within the wider context of political victimization – particularly the imprisonment and treatment of Imran Khan, the use of Peca against journalists, the endless imprisonment of Ali Wazir, military trials against civilians and violent suppression of protests, whether for PTI leadership, Baloch rights or to show support for Gaza.”
Nasir further criticized the judiciary, stating, “None of this can be separated from the conscience, silence and compliance of the superior judiciary, which has abdicated its public duty for personal comfort and safety.”
Criticizing the establishment, he concluded: “Having robbed elections and lost all legitimacy to rule, the regime’s insecurity forces it to crush dissent with brute force. This is not the behavior of a confident state, but a state that constantly deceives itself by enforcing the silence of the oppressed.”
‘The judiciary fails again’
Journalist Mariana Baabar said the judiciary is “trampling its own laws” by not producing first information reports (FIRs), and said Hadi and Imaan were “prepared” and “unafraid”.
Former Senator Mushahid Hussain said the arrests were a “travesty of the law and all norms of justice!”
He added that the rule of law must prevail and that both must be released immediately.
Arrests of human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari & Hadi are a travesty of the law and all norms of justice! The rule of law must prevail and both should be released immediately!
— Mushahid Hussain Sayed (@Mushahid) 23 January 2026
Former MNA Bushra Gohar similarly condemned the arrest, adding that “speaking for human rights and standing against oppression is not a crime.”
Barrister Khadija Siddiqi described the incident as a “disgusting state of affairs”.
Imaan Mazari & Hadi Chattha have been arrested from Islamabad High Court premises, Islamabad police allegedly manhandled them, forcibly dragged them to arrest them! The phones that recorded the arrest were also seized by the police. The abominable situation, an absolute…
— khadija siddiqi (@khadijasid751) 23 January 2026
Journalist Ahmad Noorani described the incident as “very damning”, while senior journalist Hamid Mir said the arrest would “make this couple more powerful and more respectable”.
Barrister Ahmed, who is a former president of the Sindh High Court Bar Association, said the persecution of the couple for defending the causes of the oppressed was a disgrace to the government, institutions and judges.
“The castle, which has largely acquiesced in the demolition of the judiciary, now seems helpless. It must stand up!” he said in a post on X.
Human rights reporter Alifya Sohail also condemned the arrest, saying the authorities had shown “brutality” that was “still unnerving”.
She described how Mazari was “grabbed by the neck and shalwar by masked men twice her size”, pulled out of an Islamabad High Court Bar Association van and dragged away in full view of the bar president and secretary while on her way to the Islamabad District Courts.
Sohail added: “Every detail is more lawless than the last. There are no red lines left.”
