• Say right to freedom of expression should never be conflated with criminal conduct
• IHC tells Shireen to approach Adiala jail authorities for meeting request
ISLAMABAD: Five United Nations experts have expressed alarm over the conviction of human rights activist Advocate Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, on multiple charges in a case pertaining to controversial social media posts under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca).
On Jan 24, an Islamabad sessions court sentenced Ms Mazari and Mr Chattha to jail.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, UN special rapporteurs Margaret Satterthwaite, Ben Saul, Mary Lawlor, Irene Khan and Gina Romero noted that the two were convicted on multiple criminal charges, resulting in lengthy prison sentences “for simply exercising rights guaranteed by international human rights law”.
“Lawyers, like other individuals, are entitled to freedom of expression. The exercise of this right should never be conflated with criminal conduct, especially not terrorism,” they were quoted as saying, while also emphasising the vague definition of terrorism-related offences under Pakistan’s counter-terrorism framework.
“Doing so risks undermining and criminalising the work of lawyers and human rights defenders across Pakistan and has a chilling effect on civil society in the country,” the experts stated.
The experts observed that these were not the first prosecutions against the two lawyers, “who have been the subject of 10 criminal complaints since 2022, some of which remain pending”, but were never previously convicted of wrongdoing. “This pattern of prosecutions suggests an arbitrary use of the legal system as an instrument of harassment and intimidation in order to punish them for their work advocating for victims of alleged human rights violations,” they added.
The experts observed, “International standards provide a set of procedural guarantees that must be made available to persons charged with a criminal offence, but these appear to have been undermined in this case.
“These violations seriously threaten the fairness of the trial and conviction.”
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to report their findings. They do not speak on behalf of the United Nations itself.
According to the statement, the UN experts “have contacted Pakistan regarding their concerns”.
IHC proceedings
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday directed former federal minister Shireen Mazari to first approach the superintendent of Adiala jail regarding her request to meet her incarcerated daughter, Ms Mazari, and son-in-law, Mr Chattha, under the prison rules, and disposed of her application after forwarding it to the jail authorities.
Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir heard the matter after the former PTI leader appeared before the court along with senior lawyer Kamran Murtaza and a team of legal counsel. The petition concerned allegations that prison authorities had denied family and legal access to the detained couple.
During the hearing, the court asked whether Shireen Mazari had formally applied to the jail superintendent for permission to meet the prisoners or to the Islamabad Capital Territory chief commissioner.
Upon learning that the matter had not been fully processed through the jail authorities, Justice Tahir directed the petitioner to follow the prescribed legal procedure.
The court further stated that if the authorities rejected the request, the petitioner could return to the high court for legal redress.
Malik Asad also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2026
