Islamabad: A Pakistani court on Saturday sentenced two human rights lawyers to 17 years in prison each for social media posts that authorities said were hostile to the state and its security institutions.
Judge Afzal Majoka announced the verdict a day after Zainab Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha were arrested in Islamabad, according to court documents.
The couple appeared briefly via video link but boycotted the hearing, prompting the court to close the trial and hand down the verdict. Family and friends condemned the sentence.
The court verdict said Mazari had posted several tweets in recent years that “portrayed the agenda” of the banned Baloch separatist group and the Pakistani Taliban.
The case stems from a complaint filed in August 2025 with the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency, which alleges the pair used social media to defame the state and its security institutions. They were formally charged last October and have repeatedly refused to appear in court.
In his verdict, the judge cited a complaint that claimed Mazari “consistently spreads highly offensive, misleading and anti-state content on social media” with the “active consent” of her husband.
The indictment also accused Mazari of promoting “a narrative that associated itself with hostile terrorist groups and proscribed organizations and individuals”.
The pair, who were formally charged last October and repeatedly refused to appear in court, denied the changes.
International and domestic human rights groups condemned the arrest of Mazari and her husband and called for their immediate release.
Amnesty International said in a statement on Friday that the couple’s detention marked “the latest escalation in an ongoing campaign of judicial harassment and intimidation by Pakistani authorities”.
She said Mazari and Chattha were arrested while on their way to a court hearing, with eyewitnesses saying law enforcement officials used disproportionate force. No reasons for the arrest were given at the time, raising serious concerns for the couple’s safety.
Human rights activists in Pakistan have come under increasing pressure from a government that has cracked down on criticism and dissent. Mazari and Chattha often represented journalists, political figures and human rights activists who were detained by security forces without formal charges or court appearances.
Mazari is the daughter of Shireen Mazari, Pakistan’s former human rights minister who served under jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. She condemned the verdict on X as “totally illegal”.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar praised the verdict against the pair. “As you sow, so shall you reap!” he wrote to X, adding that they were convicted under cyber laws.
