The Supreme Court disposed of appeals filed by human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha as infructuous, directing the Islamabad High Court to decide on their petitions in a security breach case, DAWN reported on Wednesday.
A three-member Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, heard the case regarding the barriers removal trial. “The trial has already been completed, and the case has now become infructuous,” Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, head of a three-member Supreme Court bench, said.
Advocate Faisal Siddiqui informed the court that the Anti-Terrorism Court conducted and completed the entire trial inside jail within 22 days, Minute Mirror reported.
“We cannot say that this case should be fixed for hearing or determine which matters should remain pending,” said Justice Mazhar.
“Let people retain at least the right to have their cases decided,” advocate Faisal Siddiqui said. “Even if you hang us, at least hear the case,” he said.
An Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court verdict on October 29, 2026, sentenced Mazari and Chattha to 10 years in prison each in the security breach case. The legal action originates from accusations that the pair created a security hazard by meddling in government matters during an international cricket team’s trip in October 2024.
The couple filed separate applications in the Islamabad High Court seeking the suspension of their sentences and release on bail, Business Recorder reported. Advocates Faisal Siddiqui, Riasat Ali Azad, and Zainab Janjua argued in the appeals that the trial court failed to fulfill the requirements of a fair trial and that the proceedings were conducted like a secret trial in violation of Article 10 of the Constitution, Business Recorder reported.
Anti-terrorism court judge Tahir Abbas Sipra announced the October 29 verdict at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, where the trial was conducted. The judgment ordered that the ten-year sentence under Section 7(h) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, include a fine of Rs100,000 each.
Additional sentences handed down by the court included a one-year prison term with a Rs50,000 fine each under Section 186 of the Pakistan Penal Code, and two years each under Section 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code, with all sentences running concurrently.
Amnesty International, alongside 22 other international civil society organisations, condemned the convictions. Yasmine Ahmed, senior director for regional human rights impact at Amnesty International, said that the convictions reflect poorly on the country’s justice system. International groups including the International Observatory of Lawyers, the World Organisation Against Torture, and others called for the immediate and unconditional release of Mazari-Hazir and Chattha, as well as an independent investigation into allegations of ill-treatment.
United Nations experts also called for the immediate release of the lawyers and the dropping of all charges, warning that the prosecution pattern indicates an arbitrary use of the legal system to intimidate and punish advocates for human rights.
Before these proceedings, the couple had faced prolonged legal battles, including a 17-year sentence under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 related to social media posts, which the Supreme Court suspended in September before their subsequent re-arrest.