A district and sessions court in Islamabad has issued non-bailable arrest warrants for lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, advocate Hadi Ali Chattha. The order was issued after the couple failed to appear for a hearing in a case involving social media posts.
Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka issued the warrants and also sent show-cause notices to the couple. The hearing has been adjourned until tomorrow.
The case against Mazari and Chattha was registered by the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency. The First Information Report (FIR) accuses them of inciting divisions on linguistic grounds through their social media posts.
Read: Imaan Mazari, Husband Indicted in Twitter Case; Clash with Judge in Court
The charges invoke several sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016. This is not the first legal challenge for the couple. Last week, Hadi Ali Chattha was arrested outside the courtroom after he failed to appear for a previous hearing.
Both Mazari and Chattha have faced arrests in the past in separate cases. In October 2024, they were taken into custody in connection with an alleged interference in government operations.
Mazari was also arrested in August 2023 in a sedition case alongside former lawmaker Ali Wazir. The court will resume proceedings on the latest case tomorrow.
