Imaan Mazari, Husband Arrested Near Islamabad High Court

News Desk 

Islamabad: Lawyer and rights activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, were arrested in Islamabad on Friday, adding a new turn to their ongoing legal battles involving protest-related charges and a controversial cybercrime case.

The couple was taken into custody from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) Bar’s van while en route from the bar office to the district and sessions court. The Islamabad police confiscated their mobile phones and shifted them to a women’s police station. 

According to sources, the arrest is linked to a case registered over an alleged altercation during a protest outside the IHC.

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad had dismissed the couple’s bail applications a day earlier due to their absence from the hearing. 

The case was registered on the complaint of IHC Bar President Wajid Ali Gilani, who accused them of engaging in a heated exchange during a protest outside the bar office. 

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Both Mazari and Chattha had sought pre-arrest bail in the matter.

The arrests also come on a day when the couple was due to appear before an additional district and sessions court in a separate case related to alleged controversial social media posts. The case, registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), invokes Sections 9, 10, 11 and 26 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016. 

The FIR alleges that the couple attempted to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through their online content.

Although arrest warrants had earlier been issued due to their repeated non-appearance, the Islamabad High Court restored their bail earlier this week. Justice Muhammad Azam Khan had also reinstated their right of defence and suspended an order by Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka, citing procedural concerns over their absence.

Last month, Mazari and Chattha moved the IHC seeking the transfer of the cybercrime case to another court, expressing a lack of confidence in Judge Majoka. Despite interim relief from the high court, Friday’s arrest underscores the mounting legal pressure on the activist couple as multiple cases proceed in parallel.