They said exercise of freedom of expression should never be conflated with criminal conduct, especially not terrorism
Lawyer and rights activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, advocate Hadi Ali Chattha. PHOTO: EXPRESS
United Nations experts expressed alarm on Wednesday at the conviction of lawyers and human rights defenders Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha on multiple criminal charges.
The two were convicted in Islamabad last month linked to alleged posts and reposts on X that investigators described as “anti-state”. The case was registered in August 2025 by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, with allegations that the content was aimed at undermining state institutions and aligning with proscribed organisations or individuals.
The convictions were widely condemned by the legal community, politicians and civil society.
Today, five special UN rapporteurs issued a statement highlighting that the couple was sentenced to lengthy prison terms for “simply exercising rights guaranteed by international human rights law”.
The statement said that “lawyers, like other individuals, are entitled to freedom of expression. The exercise of this right should never be conflated with criminal conduct, especially not terrorism.”
They emphasised the “broad and vague definition of terrorism-related offences” under the country’s counter-terrorism framework and said the above exercise “risks undermining and criminalising the work of lawyers and human rights defenders across Pakistan and has a chilling effect on civil society in the country”.
The experts observed that the sentences were not the first prosecutions against the two lawyers, adding that they had been the subject of 10 criminal complaints since 2022, some of which remain pending. They pointed out that the couple had never previously been convicted of wrongdoing.
“This pattern of prosecutions suggests an arbitrary use of the legal system as an instrument of harassment and intimidation in order to punish them for their work advocating for victims of alleged human rights violations,” the statement said.
It added that “states must ensure lawyers are not subject to prosecution for any professional action, and that lawyers are not identified with their clients.”
The experts also pointed out that the proceedings against the two lawyers “progressed with worrying speed”, saying that the couple “reportedly had inadequate time” to prepare its defence.
“They also encountered obstacles in accessing counsel of their choosing and evidence was taken from prosecution witnesses in their absence,” the experts further noted.
They concluded that international standards provided a set of procedural guarantees that must be made available to persons charged with a criminal offence, “but these appear to have been undermined in this case”.
The statement said that the aforementioned “violations seriously threaten the fairness of the trial and conviction”, adding that the experts had contacted the Pakistani authorities regarding their concerns.
uman rights organisation Amnesty International had issued an urgent action appeal to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif calling for the couple’s immediate and unconditional release.
In model letter written to the premier, Amnesty recounted the circumstances of their arrest and conviction, saying they were “being targeted solely for their advocacy and work defending human rights in the country”.
It said their trial was conducted with “unusual haste”, adding that they were “consistently denied the right to cross-examine witnesses and bring evidence against them”.
The couple were arrested on January 23 near the underpass outside Serena Hotel while travelling to the district courts, and later sent to 14 days’ judicial remand by an anti-terrorism court.
A district and sessions court later sentenced both to a combined 17 years’ rigorous imprisonment each: five years under PECA Section 9 (plus a Rs5 million fine), 10 years under Section 10 (plus Rs30m), and two years under Section 26-A (plus Rs1m), with additional jail time in case of non-payment of fines. The judge also acquitted them of the PECA hate-speech charge under Section 11, saying prosecution witnesses did not support that allegation.
Read more: Imaan Mazari alleges mistreatment as court hears tweet case via video link
During proceedings conducted via video link, Mazari alleged mistreatment in custody and announced a boycott of the hearing. The judgment noted the pair were already in custody in another case and said they would remain in jail to serve their sentences, with credit for time spent in detention under Section 382-B of the Criminal Procedure Code.
