Imaan Mazari, Hadi Chattha move SC seeking suspension of ATC trial

In their petition, they argue that the trial court initiated proceedings in haste without granting them adequate time

Human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha on Monday approached the Supreme Court against an Islamabad High Court (IHC) decision concerning their request to halt trial proceedings in an anti-terrorism case.

In their petition, the applicants contended that unless the trial was immediately stayed, their pending application before the high court would become ineffective. They argued that the trial court initiated proceedings in haste without granting them adequate time and recorded the statements of prosecution witnesses in a single day.

The petition further maintained that removing security barriers did not constitute terrorism, alleging that the trial was intended to harass the accused and subject them to political victimisation. The applicants claimed that the objective was to keep them behind bars.

The Islamabad ATC framed charges against Imaan and Hadi on October 7 in a case relating to the alleged removal of security barriers and disruption of a designated route during the visit of an international cricket team. The court subsequently recorded statements from all seven prosecution witnesses, and the case has reached the cross-examination stage.

The trial was shifted to Adiala Jail amid disputes over the accused’s production in court and defence lawyers’ access to their clients.

Read: ATC orders jail authorities to facilitate lawyers' meetings with Imaan, Hadi

Separately, Imaan and Hadi approached the IHC seeking to suspend the trial, alleging procedural violations in the framing of charges, including that they had not been physically present when indicted and had not received copies of relevant documents.

The IHC heard their appeals on October 19 and said it would issue an order after hearing the respondents. The court dismissed their request for an interim order on petitions seeking the removal of anti-terrorism provisions from the case.

However, it issued notices to the relevant parties on their separate plea seeking suspension of the trial proceedings.

Background

In January, the couple was handed a combined 17-year sentence on multiple charges linked to controversial social media posts that the prosecution argued amounted to an anti-state narrative under cybercrime laws. The same month, they filed applications for suspension of their sentences.

Later, Imaan and her husband Hadi were rearrested on September 17, shortly after the Supreme Court granted them bail and suspended their sentences in the social-media posts case. They were produced before an Islamabad ATC in connection with a case registered at Kohsar Police Station.

Police sought 30-day physical remand, but ATC Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain rejected the request and sent the couple on judicial remand. The judge noted that although they had been nominated in the FIR as members of an unlawful assembly, no weapon had been attributed to either accused.

Read More: Imaan may get case questionnaires

On September 27, the court issued a contempt notice to the Adiala jail superintendent after the authorities failed to facilitate the signing and transmission of the documents and also failed to produce the accused through video link. Two days later, the issue was resolved after Imaan and Hadi signed the required powers of attorney.

On September 29, the ATC ended the contempt proceedings against the jail authorities and separately confirmed that notices had been issued on the couple’s bail applications, with arguments scheduled before Judge Abul Hasnat.

On October 7, the ATC had framed charges against Imaan and Hadi in the case related to the alleged violation of a designated route and incitement during the arrival of an international cricket team, despite defence objections that legal requirements had not been fulfilled.