Human rights attorney Imaan Mazari detained the previous day under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), has been granted a three-day physical remand to Islamabad police.
This decision was approved by the additional district and sessions judge, Abual Hasnat, following prosecutor Raja Naveed’s plea. After this, Mazari was taken into police custody from the judicial complex.
The verdict was passed after deliberations between the prosecutor and Mazari’s legal representatives concluded.
Previously, Imaan Mazari was taken into custody outside the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi right after an ATC court granted her and Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Ali Wazir’s bail in a different sedition case related to remarks against state entities.
Read: Human Rights Lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir Re-Arrested after Bail Approval
Imaan’s legal team mentioned that they were uninformed about the specifics of this new case that led to her arrest.
Before the remand was granted, Judge Hasnat permitted Imaan to converse with her mother, Shireen Mazari, in the courtroom.
In today’s proceedings, the prosecutor emphasized the police’s desire to have Mazari on remand, noting that the formal trial hasn’t begun yet.
“We are in the phase of gathering evidence against Imaan Mazari,” the prosecutor conveyed to the court.
However, Imaan’s defense attorney, Zainab Janjua, contested the police’s appeal for her client’s remand. She pointed out that not every investigation requires the suspect’s detention.
“The Supreme Court has clarified that arresting the accused in every circumstance is not mandatory. Imaan Mazari, being a lawyer, is not a flight risk,” Janjua stated, emphasizing that her client’s arrest in the terrorism case appears to be an act of victimization.
