‘Principles aren’t optional’: Politicians, journalists, rights bodies react to arrest of Imaan, Hadi

Activist and lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, were arrested on Friday in Islamabad while they were reportedly en route to the district courts.

In the wake of the arrest, journalists and parliamentarians issued strong condemnations and urged justice for the two lawyers.

Imaan and Hadi were scheduled to appear in a trial court today in the controversial tweets case, after failing to appear yesterday despite repeated summons.

Opposition Leader Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said in a post on X that the arrest of the lawyers on their way to court “highlighted the troubling pattern of state overreach and procedural irregularities that undermine the principles of fair trial and due process enshrined in Pakistani laws and international conventions”.

“Such actions by the state not only expose institutional weaknesses but risk a complete judicial breakdown, eroding public trust in the rule of law,” he said.

The opposition leader added that Imaan and Hadi should be immediately presented for bail and allowed to defend themselves.

“Stop silencing dissent and the advocates of human rights,” Abbas said.

Former PTI federal minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, despite disagreeing with Imaan’s views, also criticised the arrest.

“While I find Imaan Mazari’s views on Balochistan to be foolishly misdirected, no individual should face state repression for their opinions,” he said.

Hussain said that the lawyers’ repeated arrests highlighted “the growing irrelevance of professional legal bodies” and called on lawyers “to reclaim their agency and restore the ‘red line’ around their freedom and dignity”.

Former senator Afrasiab Khattak called the arrest “a brazen attack by the usurpers on human rights and rule of law”.

“But fascist tactics can’t save the usurpers from wrath of the people who will definitely make them accountable,” he added.

Meanwhile, former member of parliament Bushra Gohar also condemned the incident, saying, “Speaking up for human rights and standing against oppression isn’t a crime.”

Barrister Khadija Siddiqi said on social media that the Islamabad police had allegedly manhandled the lawyers and “forcibly dragged them to arrest them”, while phones recording the arrest had been seized by the police.

Siddiqui called it an “abhorrent state of affairs, an absolute shame and disgrace for the Islamabad Bar president”.

“No condemnation can be enough!” she said.

Dawn’s foreign affairs and national security correspondent Baqir Sajjad, said, “Under international human rights conventions, every person deserves a fair trial and due process.

“Denying this and state overreach in under-trial cases expose weakness, not strength. Those facing court must always be given a real chance to defend themselves. Justice demands no less.”

He added that judicial compromises and breakdowns did not serve anyone, but rather eroded judicial independence, trust and the rule of law.

“Principles aren’t optional,” Sajjad added.

Journalist Arifa Noor called on the government to condemn the incident, calling it “absolutely pathetic”.

“Will the government and its allies condemn this and make some effort, any effort, to get Imaan and Hadi released?” she said, reposting footage of the arrest posted by Maryam Nawaz Khan.

Journalist Mariana Baabar said that the judiciary was trampling its own laws by not producing first information reports (FIRs), saying that Hadi and Imaan were “prepared. Unafraid.”

Meanwhile, journalist Asma Sherazi said, “This shows the weakness of (the) government, not Imaan and Hadi. Release them and don’t make mockery of justice.”

Journalist Ahmad Noorani also called the incident “highly condemnable”.

Journalist Hamid Mir said that the arrest of Imaan and Hadi “will make this couple more powerful and more respectable”.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan “strongly condemned” the action, demanding the “immediate disclosure of their whereabouts”.

Aurat March Islamabad called upon “all members of civil society, students, lawyers, and every conscious citizen to join us in resistance” against the arrest. “We must stand together against this blatant attempt to silence the voices of dissent and legal advocacy,” the group wrote on X.

Human rights defender Tahira Abdullah, in a statement, also condemned the arrest, saying, “Over the past months, this peculiar case has been distorted and convoluted beyond recognition. ‎It has clearly turned into a witch hunt and an ulterior-motivated vendetta”.

“‎It is time to commend and appreciate all the legions of human rights defenders (HRDs), activists, lawyers and media-persons across Pakistan and globally, as well as political workers, who are standing up to be counted unconditionally, unequivocally in solidarity with Imaan and Hadi,” she stated.
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