ATC orders video-link appearance of Imaan Mazari, husband

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad has directed jail authorities to produce human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, lawyer Hadi Ali Chattha, before the court through video link on Saturday.

ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Supra was hearing a case registered against the couple at the Secretariat Police Station. The court had directed authorities to present both accused in person on Friday, but they were not brought from Adiala Jail.

The judge subsequently adjourned the proceedings until Saturday and ordered the jail authorities to ensure that Mazari and Chattha appear through video link at the next hearing.

The couple is currently on judicial remand in Adiala Jail. They were arrested last week in connection with a case involving allegations of an anti-state narrative, incitement and interference in government affairs.

Their arrest came hours after the Supreme Court suspended their sentences in a separate case concerning controversial social media posts and granted them bail against surety bonds of Rs200,000 each. The matter remains pending before the Islamabad High Court.

Earlier in January, a district and sessions court in Islamabad sentenced Mazari and Chattha to 17 years in prison each under different provisions of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA). They later challenged the convictions before the Islamabad High Court.

The couple had initially been booked by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency under Sections 9, 10, 11 and 26 of PECA. The FIR alleged that their social media posts attempted to create divisions along linguistic lines.