Pakistan court issues arrest warrants for lawyer Imaan Mazari and husband

A court in Pakistan on Monday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for human rights activist and lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, in connection with controversial tweets targeting the state and national security institutions.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Islamabad, Muhammad Afzal Majoka, directed authorities to arrest both Mazari and Chattha and present them before the court on September 24.

The couple had earlier been summoned to court but failed to appear. Their legal teams sought to have the arrest warrants canceled, but the court rejected the application. As a result, the case hearing has now been adjourned until September 24.

Last week, the judge had confirmed bail for Mazari and Chattha. However, Monday’s warrants were issued due to their absence in court.

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) had registered a case against the couple, alleging that between 2021 and 2025, they posted content on social media that was anti-state.

According to the FIR, their posts allegedly promoted provincial hatred, accused the armed forces of fostering terrorism, raised claims about enforced disappearances in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and suggested the military had failed to eliminate groups like TTP and BLA.

This development comes amid broader legal unrest. Lawyers including Zainab Janjua, Chattha, Intezar Hussain Panjotha, Naeem Panjotha and Fateh Ullah Burki were named in a separate FIR filed on Friday following violent clashes outside the Islamabad High Court. The lawyers were protesting what they described as an unconstitutional ruling by the division bench in Justice Jahangiri's case.

Over the weekend, police conducted raids at 17 locations in a bid to arrest more than two dozen individuals linked to the FIR. So far, none of the accused have applied for pre-arrest bail.