Human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, have alleged that the case against them pertaining to a security breach was “nothing more than harassment” for their legal and human rights work, falling under the broader pattern of targeting through “reprisals”.

On Tuesday, the case concluded at Adiala Jail, with the anti-terrorism court (ATC) reserving its verdict. Both accused recorded their statements under Section 342 (power to examine the accused) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, while final arguments by the state counsel also concluded during the proceedings.

Imaan and Hadi are facing a jail trial in a 2024 case on the alleged disruption of an international cricket team’s security route and incitement to public unrest. The couple, accused of removing barriers from the route, were indicted on Oct 7.

“The evidence produced during this trial is not against us, but in fact a charge sheet against (prosecution witnesses)/police officials and the state,” Imaan and Hadi said in their separate similar recorded statements available with Dawn.

They claimed that the prosecution witnesses were “part and parcel” of the state machinery that had allegedly targeted them for their human rights work and provision of pro bono legal assistance and services to the marginalised and oppressed communities, including street vendors and victims of false blasphemy allegations and enforced disappearances.

“I am a prisoner of conscience who has been at the receiving end of state persecution,” the statements by the lawyer couple read.

Imaan pointed out that the entire jail trial had been challenged by the couple in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) as well as the Supreme Court (SC).

Further, the trial was conducted with Imaan and her husband being presented in a cage, preventing effective communication with their counsel or the court, she said.

“From day one, our constitutional rights to fair trial, due process and basic human dignity have been infringed,” she stated.

On the charges against the two of removing security barriers placed in connection with the movement of an international cricket team at Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited on Faisal Avenue on Oct 25, 2024, Imaan stated she and her husband were on their way to the court when the police told them that the route had been temporarily closed as an alternative route for the cricket team.

At this, Imaan said that she enquired whether the police officials had a copy of the magistrate’s order for closure, which the police did not have.

She also pointed out that such an order was yet to be produced by the prosecution in the trial.

Imaan denied the prosecution testimonies, saying they were “false, fabricated and contradictory” to the video footage of the incident. She further held that the video had also confirmed that one of the police officials threw a barrier at her lower abdomen, due to which she fell to the ground.

“The timing and mode and manner (including both jail trial in a cage and speed of instant proceedings) of the trial reflect the objective to keep us behind bars at all costs,” Imaan claimed.

She further alleged that prosecution witnesses had been directed by “higher-ups/senior officers to falsely depose against us to punish for our human rights work”.

She also noted that the couple had been incarcerated for over nine months and handed 17-year sentences a day after their arrest on Jan 23.

“We are being made an example to further cement the chilling effect against those who stand (or want to stand) against tyranny, oppression and injustice,” Imaan stated.

The lawyer further highlighted that the two had spent the third year of their marriage in jail and thus “suffered painful separation from one another” very early on.

“We have not done so for any personal gain; in fact, we have endured only hardship for our work (and) activism,” she said. “But we surrender ourselves before the ultimate court where we all must return one day, where all will be held accountable for what they have done.”

Meanwhile, Hadi, in his recorded statement available with Dawn, said: “I am being punished for not only supporting my wife’s work and activism, but for choosing this path of resisting injustice as our life journey together.”

He added: “It is deeply painful for me that while my work on human rights has received recognition abroad, even today, my family and I continue to suffer reprisals for the same in my home country.”

On Monday, the couple approached the SC to challenge the IHC’s Oct 19 order refusing to stay the trial in the case.

The IHC had heard their appeals last week against an Oct 10 ATC order dismissing petitions challenging the framing of charges and the inclusion of terrorism-related provisions. The high court issued notices and said it would decide how to proceed after receiving responses from the parties.

Jailed, sentenced, re-arrested

The couple has been in jail since their arrest on Jan 23 in a case registered against them for protesting outside the IHC and allegedly manhandling the IHC Bar Association president. The arrest prompted criticism by rights bodies, politicians and journalists, who stressed the couple’s right to a fair trial.

Just a day later, a sessions court sentenced them to 17 years on multiple charges under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act in the controversial social media posts case. The convictions were widely condemned by lawyers and United Nations (UN) experts.

On Sept 17, following months of litigation before the courts, the SC suspended their sentences in the case. The SC ordered their release pending the IHC’s final verdict on their appeals against the trial court’s decision.

However, the reprieve was short-lived as hours later, Islamabad police arrested the couple again in connection with the security breach case. The case was registered at the federal capital’s Kohsar police station on March 22 last year on the complaint of City Magistrate Ghulam Murtaza Chandio.