Imaan Mazari and her husband spend second night at IHC Bar office amid fears of arrest

ISLAMABAD:

Lawyer and human rights activist Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha spent a second consecutive night at the office of Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) president Wajid Gilani, citing fears of arrest as police maintained a heavy presence around the Islamabad High Court.

The couple had been granted pre-arrest bail on Wednesday in a case dating back to July 2025. However, they did not appear on Thursday at a separate hearing related to a controversial tweeting case.

Mazari told visitors that she was ready to surrender. “We don’t want any concessions. We are sitting here giving up,” he said. “We will go ourselves, just tell us how many cases have been registered against us.”

Islamabad Bar Association president Naeem Gujar criticized the police deployment around the court, saying police had “cordoned off the High Court on all four sides” and alleged that lawyers were being searched and harassed.

“The trunks of lawyers’ vehicles are being searched and lawyers are being harassed,” Gujar said, appealing to the prime minister, the interior minister and the army chief. He also demanded that the authorities provide a complete list of cases registered against Mazari and Chattha to ensure that legal proceedings follow due process.

Read: IHC grants two-day protective bail to Imaan Mazari, husband in newly emerged case

Islamabad Bar Council Executive Committee Chairman Zafar Khokhar echoed similar concerns about the treatment of lawyers. “It seems like the law of the jungle exists here,” he said. “We demand that if the two have committed any crime, they are at least given the right to a fair trial.”

IHCBA president Wajid Gilani warned that the Bar Association would take action if concerns were not addressed. “When someone makes a bail application, no one has the right to harass them,” he said, highlighting the need to respect legal rights.

Mazari and Chattha first sought shelter in the Bar President’s office on Tuesday night after arrest warrants were issued in connection with a newly discovered FIR at Kohsar Police Station, Islamabad, dated July 26, 2025.

Read more: IHC restores bail and restores the right to defense of Imaan Mazari, her husband

The FIR was lodged following a protest by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and emerged soon after the Islamabad High Court restored his bail in a separate case under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016.

Fearing arrest, the couple spent the night in the Bar office and Gilani assured them: “Sit in my office. No one will arrest you from here.”

The situation drew criticism from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which described the FIR as “fabricated” and expressed concern over what it called continued harassment of the couple.