Mazari tweet case adjourned as Aurat March, KBA protest "unfair trial"
Advocate Imaan Mazari. Photo: X
The District and Sessions Court in Islamabad has adjourned the controversial tweet case hearing of lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha until December 15. The adjournment comes as the couple's petition in the Islamabad High Court, seeking transfer of the case, remains pending. In Karachi, protests organized by the Aurat March and Karachi Bar Association were held today, with demonstrators calling the trial "unfair."
Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka heard the case, and the lawyer couple was also present. “The petition is still pending before the Islamabad High Court,” the Islamabad bar association president, Naeem Gujjar, who was representing the couple today, said.
Said goodbye to my brave daughter @ImaanZHazir & @AdvHadiali as they go to hear a sentence despite being innocent, passed by a kangaroo court thru a sham trial where all procedural laws violated. All this brazen injustice to satisfy an insatiable vengeful appetite.
According to Imaan Mazari's mother, former federal minister Shireen Mazari, a sentence was expected to be heard at today's hearing.
The petition, alleging a lack of transparency by Judge Majoka, was filed during the final hearing of the controversial tweets case at the District and Sessions Court on Friday. Mazari reportedly told the judge with a smile, "Give me the sentence of seven years, I am ready." Judge Majoka did not respond.
Another petition, challenging the Trial Court's order, was also filed in the IHC on December 1 with Azad, stating that the "trial court is not conducting a transparent trial".
Azad has raised concerns that the trial is not proceeding transparently, stressing, “A fair trial is my constitutional right. Witness statements should be recorded in my presence. The trial court is not conducting a transparent trial. This is one of many cases pending before this court. These are bar members and professional lawyers”.
Read: Mazari, husband seek case transfer over bias
Mazari and her husband, Chattha, have previously raised objections after their state-appointed counsel withdrew from the controversial case. Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Mazari also claimed that the court had 'forcibly appointed a state counsel for her and Chattha.
The trial has received a lot of attention from the lawyer fraternity; in the previous hearing on Friday, District Bar President Naeem Gujar, Islamabad Bar member Raja Aleem Abbasi, and former High Court Bar President Riyasat Ali Azad attended the hearing. Lawyers, in the previous hearing, reportedly raised slogans in court, leading Judge Majoka to leave the courtroom.
Replug: The criminal proceedings against @ImaanZHazir and @AdvHadiali amount to judicial persecution
The trial, which is marred by serious irregularities and the denial of due process guarantees, is intended to obstruct their legitimate legal work and retaliate against them for…Protests erupted across social media, with calls for demonstrations in Islamabad and Karachi on Monday. An in-person protest was announced at G-11 Katcheri in Islamabad and outside City Court in Karachi, where participants demanded that the sentencing in the case be paused until the defendants are guaranteed a fair trial.
The Islamabad Bar Association have stated the strike is in protest to "the unfair trial of human rights defenders Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali".
Read more: Trial against Imaan Mazari 'not transparent,' counsel tells IHC
Two of the ‘controversial’ tweets in the FIR lodged against lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha. This is PECA. pic.twitter.com/ceWl0YMOCr
The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency has registered a case against Mazari and Chattha; both are accused of sharing 'anti-state' sentiment on the social media platform X. The couple was formally charged on October 30, a day after Chattha was arrested outside the courtroom for failing to appear. Mazari maintained that video footage showed him "inside and outside the courtroom".
After his release, Chattha told reporters that he had arrived five minutes early for the October 29 proceedings, yet the judge had issued an arrest warrant "in front of him".