Pakistan's top court suspends sentences of rights lawyer Mazari and husband in social media posts case

Pakistan's ​Supreme ⁠Court (SC) on Thursday suspended 17-year prison sentences handed ‌to prominent rights lawyer ‌and activist Imaan Mazari and her husband in the controversial social media posts case, and ordered them freed on bail, lifting a detention that has been criticised by activists.

The development came as a two-judge bench, comprising Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim, took up the couple's appeals against the refusal of the Islamabad High Court's (IHC) in February to suspend the sentences.

Mazari and her husband ⁠Hadi Ali Chattha, also a lawyer, were convicted in January on charges of sending anti-state social media posts.

Both have denied the charges, saying they were being persecuted for raising their voice against disappearances of nationalist activists.

Mazari challenged the ​conviction in Islamabad High Court and then took her ‌case to the Supreme Court.

That top tribunal said it was issuing its ruling on Thursday pending the decision ⁠by the lower court, expected within weeks.

The SC ordered the couple's release after granting them bail against surety bonds of Rs200,000, pending the IHC's final verdict. "Both are lawyers and we are keeping their honour," said Justice Afghan, but also asked senior counsel Faisal Siddiqui, the couple's attorney, to tell the couple to observe the court's decorum.

"There is a difference between a lawyer and an ordinary person," the judge observed.

Siddiqui argued that the SC had issued its first order on May 12 in which the IHC was asked to decide the applicants' petition for suspension of sentence as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of two weeks.

On May 12, the Supreme Court ordered the IHC to decide Imaan and Hadi's sentence suspension pleas within two weeks.

Despite the May 26 deadline having already passed, the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) challenged the apex court order and sought its withdrawal.

During the proceedings, Siddiqui also read out the order sheets from various IHC hearings. At one point, the court directed Additional Attorney General (AAG) Rana Asadullah Khan, who was standing at the rostrum, to take a seat, adding that the court will hear Siddiqui first.

"Let him sit, though he has certainly worn us out," Siddiqui quipped and cited former chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa's remarks that a case would only be adjourned upon the death of a judge or a lawyer. He regretted that the IHC adjourned the case multiple times and that his clients' request for an early hearing was rejected by the high court's registrar office.

"What transpired at the high court came as a surprise to us." Justice Ibrahim said that these days are an era of surprises. The AAG contended that the IHC has not yet issued any adverse ruling, adding that seven opportunities were provided in the trial court.

"I am grateful to the Supreme Court for finally delivering justice to the couple," said ​Mazari’s mother, ‌Shireen Mazari, who served as human rights minister under ‌jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. The family was still waiting for the couple to be freed, she told Reuters.

Mazari has earned ‌international recognition for ‌defending ethnic minorities and journalists ⁠in Pakistan.

She and her husband were convicted ‌in January under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act for social media posts critical of military operations ⁠in the insurgency-stricken provinces of Balochistan and Khyber ​Pakhtunkhwa.

United Nations experts, Amnesty International and other groups questioned the trial's fairness. Pakistan said its judiciary was independent.