• Activists outraged after police block access to Karachi Press Club; term seige assault on democratic freedoms
• Capital lawyers observe strike, hold protest outside IHC

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: Lawyers and civil society rallied in support of activists Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha — who were recently sentenced to 17 years in prison over controversial social media posts — as several bar associations announced a strike.

But while the demonstration in the capital went off without a hitch, the protest in Karachi was virtually scuttled when law enforcement personnel blocked off all access to the Karachi Press Club on Monday afternoon.

The closure of roads slowed down the movement of traffic on several arteries in the downtown area, causing inconvenience for commuters from I.I. Chundrigar Road to Saddar and beyond.

A small group of demonstrators who managed to reach the press club did stage a token demonstration to register their protest.

These included academic Tauseef Ahmed Khan, journalists Mazhar Abbas and Fazil Jamili, Tahir Hassan Khan and Saeed Sarbazi, HRCP’s Asad Iqbal Butt, among others.

But most protesters were held up by the hurdles put in place by the authorities, who barred many protesters including activists Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Jr and Sheema Kermani, from reaching the press club — a move the KPC president termed a violation of the fundamental right to peaceful assembly.

“The siege of the Karachi Press Club today is a blatant assault on democratic freedoms. By cordoning off the KPC and barring citizens, including Zulfiqar Bhutto Jr., from protesting the sentencing of Imaan Mazari, authorities are violating the fundamental right to peaceful assembly,” Mr Jamili posted on social media platform X.

Zulfikar Jr and Ms Kermani staged a sit-in at the KPC Roundabout when they were stopped from reaching the press club.

“We are being deprived of fundamental human rights. I want to participate in the protest, but participation in the protest has become a crime,” Zulfikar Jr said.

Later, senior lawyer Barrister Salah­uddin Ahmed, rights activist Jibran Nasir and several other lawyers, human rights activists and civil society members also reached KPC to register their protest.

Condemning the conviction of the couple handed down by a sessions court in Islamabad on Jan 24, Barrister Ahmed was of the view that it was not only the violation of fair trial, but also against the freedom of expression, which was also protected in the Constitution.

Mr Nasir also strongly denounced the sentence and asserted that all roads leading to KPC have been blocked as the state wanted to deny journalists, lawyers and civil society the right to protest and expose the sham trial and conviction.

“This conviction is an act of theft and robbery, and the state is now trying to cover it up as well”, he alleged.

Protest in Islamabad

Meanwhile, in the capital, lawyers led by IHC Bar President Syed Wajid Ali Gilani staged a protest at the main gate of the high court.

The Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA), IBC and Islamabad District Bar jointly announced a strike. However, lawyers appeared in the high court only in urgent matters.

Due to the protest, strict security arrangements were made in and around the IHC, with a heavy police contingent deployed and armoured vehicles stationed outside the court premises.

The issue of the strike also came up during the hearing of a civil case before Chief Justice Sarfaraz Dogar. Advocate Qaiser Abbas Gondal informed the court that the bar had called for a strike due to the arrest of lawyers.

When the chief justice asked which lawyers had been arrested, Gondal replied that Imaan Mazari and Hadi Chattha had been taken into custody. The chief justice then asked whether they were considered lawyers. No reply was given.

CJ Dogar observed that if the bar considered them lawyers, their representatives could convey their position in chambers.

Ishaq Tanoli in Karachi also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2026