An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad reserved its verdict on Tuesday in a case against human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, over allegations that they removed security barriers and disrupted a designated route during the visit of an international cricket team.
The trial concluded at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, where both defendants recorded their statements under Section 342 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), while state-appointed counsel completed final arguments.
The court announced that its verdict would be delivered on Thursday, October 29, at Adiala Jail in the presence of the accused.
The proceedings concern allegations that Imaan and Hadi interfered with security arrangements by removing barriers placed along a route designated for an international cricket team.
The Islamabad ATC formally framed charges against the couple on October 7. During the subsequent proceedings, the court recorded statements from all seven prosecution witnesses.
The trial was later transferred to Adiala Jail following disputes concerning the production of the accused before the court and access to their clients by defence lawyers.
The case has also become the subject of proceedings before the superior courts, with the couple challenging both the terrorism-related charges and the manner in which the trial has been conducted.
On Monday, Imaan and Hadi approached the Supreme Court against an Islamabad High Court (IHC) decision declining to suspend the ATC proceedings.
In their petitions, the lawyers argued that allowing the trial to continue before their pending applications were decided by the high court would render their legal challenge ineffective.
They alleged that the trial court had proceeded with undue haste, without providing sufficient time to prepare their defence, and had recorded prosecution evidence within an unusually compressed period.
The petitioners also questioned the application of anti-terrorism provisions to the alleged removal of security barriers, maintaining that the accusations did not meet the legal threshold for terrorism.
They further claimed that the proceedings were intended to harass them and subject them to political victimisation, alleging that the case was being pursued to prolong their detention.
These allegations form part of the couple’s legal challenge and have not been established by the courts.
With the recording of statements and final arguments now completed, the ATC is expected to announce its decision on October 29, bringing the trial proceedings to a conclusion at the first-instance court.