Lawyer and activist Imaan Mazari, daughter of important politician Shireen Mazari. PHOTO: EXPRESS/ARCHIVE
ISLAMABAD:
Lawyer Imaan Mazari has approached the Supreme Court seeking the suspension of her sentence in a case involving “anti-state” posts on social media.
The human rights lawyer has moved the high court after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) did not include her request for suspension of her 17-year sentence in the hearing.
Mazari filed the petition through renowned lawyer Faisal Siddiqi. The petition claims that despite his lawyer’s vehement request to stay the trial court’s sentence, the IHC only issued notices regarding the stay application on February 19 and did not stay the petitioner’s sentence.
He submits that the order of the trial court was wholly illegal and clearly malafide as it violated the due process requirements laid down in Articles 10 and 10A of the Constitution, violated the mandatory provisions of Sections 526, 233, 234, 353 and 367 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.
The order also contravened binding orders of the IHC, denied Mazari the right to choose a lawyer and the right to cross-examination, and recorded the accused’s statement without her consent.
It also involved appointing a state attorney against his wishes, relied on inadmissible documents including an analysis report and even admitted records, and failed to establish any offense under Sections 9, 10 and 26A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act of 2016 (PECA).
“On the urgent request for early hearing filed by the petitioner, the IHC, by further order dated 27-02-2026, neither granted the request for early hearing nor fixed any date for the same, but referred the matter to the Chief Justice of the IHC.”
It says that since the petitioner’s criminal appeal was not resolved before the IHC, early hearing requests were subsequently filed on her behalf.
“However, to the surprise of the petitioner, the IHC office, through administrative order dated 05-03-2026, returned the early hearing request considering that the previous early hearing request was still pending.”
It remains to be seen whether the SC office will include Imaan Mazari’s petition against the IHC’s interim order in the hearing list.
If the petition is assigned a number, a three-judge committee comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail will decide on the listing of the case.
