A Pakistani court on Saturday jailed a prominent rights activist and her husband for 10 years over “anti-state” social media posts.
Imaan Mazari, a 32-year-old lawyer and vocal critic of Pakistan’s military, “disseminated highly offensive” content on her X account, according to an Islamabad court.
A written court statement said Mazari and her husband, fellow lawyer Hadi Ali Chattha, “will have to remain in jail for 10 years”.
They were handed prison terms on three charges — including “cyber terrorism” and “intentional dissemination of false and fake information” — to run concurrently, the document said.
Their sentencing came a day after Pakistani police arrested the couple as they headed to a court hearing in the capital.
Videos circulating on social media showed police vans escorting a bar association vehicle carrying Mazari to court before it was stopped at an underpass, where masked security officials prevented journalists from filming the arrest.
Mazari is the daughter of Pakistan’s former minister for human rights, Shireen Mazari, while her late father was the South Asian country’s top paediatrician.
She is a pro bono lawyer on some of the most sensitive cases, including the enforced disappearances of ethnic Balochs, as well as defending the community’s top activist, Mahrang Baloch.
She also represented those accused of blasphemy — an incendiary charge in Pakistan — as well as Afghans who face crackdowns by the authorities.
Changes to the constitution and hasty legislation passed by parliament have pushed Pakistan towards tighter state control, with diminishing political and civil rights.