IT will be remembered as another low point in the history of Pakistan’s justice system. An Islamabad lawyer couple, often seen standing beside citizens challenging human rights violations, has been condemned by a sessions court to serve time for statements deemed too controversial to be posted on social media platform X.

Imaan Zainab-Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, are both promising human rights lawyers and activists known for fighting high-profile cases involving enforced disappearances, blasphemy accusations, and judicial independence. They have often pleaded in court on behalf of citizens with no means to pay for legal counsel or the privilege to navigate a broken justice system on their own.

Many believe their insistence on representing victims of state excesses, outspokenness on issues like free speech and rule of law, and criticism of state institutions are what prompted the recent witch-hunt against them. In the past few weeks, the two found themselves in the crosshairs of an unrelenting campaign of lawfare, which included a previously undisclosed case that ‘magically’ resurfaced when their detention was sought. The ordeal culminated in a dramatic arrest on Jan 23, followed by a conviction the very next day.

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Authority, the complainant in this case, had accused Ms Mazari last July of “disseminating and propagating narratives that align with hostile terrorist groups and proscribed organisations”.

Her husband was deemed complicit for reposting those posts. A court order authored by Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka now holds the two guilty of ‘glorification of an offence’, ‘cyberterrorism’ and ‘false and fake information’.

Their punishment: rigorous imprisonment for five years and a fine of Rs5m each for the first charge; 10 years and Rs30m each for the second; and two years and Rs1m each for the third. One does not need the content of the offending tweets to guess what they likely said, just as one does not need legal reasoning to understand this verdict.

Our legal community has historically played a central role in resisting despotism and defending constitutional norms. This conviction raises the question of whether that tradition is being deliberately weakened through harsh punishment. If such convictions stand, the message to lawyers, journalists and citizens alike is unmistakable: dissent will not merely be discouraged, it will be criminalised.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2026