They said the exercise of freedom of expression should never be confused with criminal conduct, especially terrorism.
Lawyer and human rights activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, defender Hadi Ali Chattha. PHOTO: EXPRESS
United Nations experts expressed alarm Wednesday over the conviction of lawyers and human rights defenders Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha on multiple criminal charges.
The two were convicted in Islamabad last month for alleged publications and republications in X that investigators described as “anti-state.” The case was registered in August 2025 by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, with allegations that the content was aimed at undermining state institutions and aligning with proscribed organizations or individuals.
The convictions were widely condemned by the legal community, politicians and civil society.
Today, five UN special rapporteurs issued a statement highlighting that the couple was sentenced to long prison terms for “simply exercising rights guaranteed by international human rights law.”
The statement said that “lawyers, like other people, have the right to freedom of expression. The exercise of this right should never be confused with criminal conduct, especially terrorism.”
They stressed the “broad and vague definition of terrorism-related offences” in the country’s counter-terrorism framework and said the aforementioned exercise “risks undermining and criminalizing the work of human rights lawyers and defenders across Pakistan and has a chilling effect on civil society in the country.”
The experts noted that the sentences were not the first prosecutions against the two lawyers, adding that they had been the subject of 10 criminal complaints since 2022, some of which remain pending. They noted that the couple had never before been convicted of any crime.
“This pattern of prosecutions suggests an arbitrary use of the legal system as an instrument of harassment and intimidation to punish them for their work defending victims of alleged human rights violations,” the statement said.
He added that “states must ensure that lawyers are not prosecuted for any professional action and that lawyers are not identified with their clients.”
The experts also noted that the proceedings against the two lawyers “moved forward with worrying speed” and stated that the couple “did not have enough time” to prepare their defense.
“They also encountered obstacles in accessing a lawyer of their choice and evidence was taken from prosecution witnesses in their absence,” the experts further noted.
They concluded that international standards provided a set of procedural safeguards that should be available to people charged with a criminal offence, “but these appear to have been undermined in this case”.
The statement said the aforementioned “violations seriously threaten the fairness of the trial and sentencing,” adding that the experts had contacted Pakistani authorities regarding their concerns.
Human rights organization Amnesty International had issued an urgent action call to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif calling for the couple’s immediate and unconditional release.
In a form letter written to the prime minister, Amnesty recounted the circumstances of their arrest and conviction, saying they were “being attacked solely for their advocacy and work defending human rights in the country.”
He said their trial was conducted with “unusual haste,” adding that they were “systematically denied the right to cross-examine witnesses and present evidence against them.”
The couple was arrested on January 23 near the underpass in front of Hotel Serena while on their way to the district courts, and later sent to 14-day judicial remand by an anti-terrorism court.
Subsequently, a district and sessions court sentenced both to a combined sentence of 17 years of rigorous imprisonment each: five years under Section 9 of PECA (plus a fine of Rs 5 million), 10 years under Section 10 (plus Rs 30 million) and two years under Section 26-A (plus Rs 1 million), with additional jail term in case of non-payment of fines. The judge also acquitted them of the PECA hate speech charge under Section 11, saying that prosecution witnesses did not support that charge.
Read more: Imaan Mazari alleges ill-treatment as court hears tweet case via video link
During the process carried out by videoconference, Mazari denounced mistreatment in custody and announced a boycott of the hearing. The ruling noted that the couple was already in custody in another case and said they would remain in jail to serve their sentences, with credit for time spent in detention under Section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
