An anti-terrorism court sentenced human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, lawyer Hadi Ali Chattha, to 10 years in prison each on Thursday, October 29, 2026. The case is about the alleged removal of security barriers on a route closed for a visiting international cricket team in Islamabad in October 2024.
Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra announced the verdict inside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where the trial was held. He also fined each of them Rs. 50,000, Daily Times reported. Their lawyers say they will appeal.
13 years, but served as 10
The court convicted the couple under three separate legal sections. The sentences add up to 13 years, according to the court order reported by Daily Times. But the court ordered them to run “concurrently”, which means at the same time. So the longest single term, 10 years, is what counts.
An anti-terrorism court is a special court that hears cases filed under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism law. The couple’s lawyers had challenged the use of terrorism charges in this case.
Two sides of the story
Police say the couple removed road barriers on October 25, 2024, argued and scuffled with officials, and put a security route at risk. The case was registered at Islamabad’s Aabpara police station, Geo News reported. Prosecutors argued their actions endangered the security area, while the defence called it a dispute over a road closure, Arab News reported.
In her statement to the court on October 27, Imaan Mazari gave a different account, Dawn reported. She said police told them the road on Faisal Avenue was closed for the cricket team while they were on their way to court. She said she asked to see the magistrate’s written order for the closure, which police did not have, and which was never produced at trial.
Imaan Mazari also said video of the incident showed a police official throwing a barrier at her, which knocked her down. She called the witness statements false. Both lawyers told the court the case was a punishment for their human rights work. “I am a prisoner of conscience,” their statements read.
A rushed trial, says defence
The couple was formally charged on October 7, 2026, and pleaded not guilty. The court gave them a state-appointed lawyer, Atif Mahmood, who questioned all seven prosecution witnesses. The court reserved its verdict on October 27 and announced it two days later.
Before the verdict, their lawyer asked the court to wait because their petitions were still pending in the Islamabad High Court and the Supreme Court, Geo News reported. On October 19, the Islamabad High Court had refused to stop the trial, and the couple challenged that order in the Supreme Court this week.
A year in and out of court
This is the couple’s second conviction in 2026. Here is how their case has moved:
Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha were arrested on January 23. The next day, a sessions court in Islamabad sentenced them to a combined 17 years under the cybercrime law, PECA, over social media posts. Lawyers and United Nations experts criticised that verdict, according to Dawn.
On September 17, the Supreme Court suspended those sentences and ordered their release until the Islamabad High Court decides their appeals. Police arrested them again hours later in this security barrier case.
Thursday’s verdict means both will stay in jail unless a higher court gives them relief. Their appeal will go to the Islamabad High Court.
