By Uzma Ehtasham
KARACHI: Traffic around Karachi Press Club came to a standstill on Monday amid a protest over the conviction of lawyer-activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha. The couple was sentenced on Saturday to a total of 17 years in prison each under different sections of a case linked to controversial social media posts.
Karachi police blocked roads leading to the press club, causing heavy disruption on II Chundrigar Road and across the Saddar area. Commuters reported delays of several hours as traffic slowed to a crawl. Authorities also prevented Zulfikar Junior, grandson of former prime minister and PPP founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, from approaching the press club.
The protest followed a strike by lawyers in Islamabad, who refrained from court proceedings to express opposition to Mazari and Chattha’s arrest and sentencing. Islamabad High Court Bar Association secretary Manzoor Jajja said the association had requested all lawyers not to appear in court on Monday. Lawyers planned to move in a convoy to the district court to formally record their protest.
Mazari and Chattha were sentenced under multiple provisions of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca). They received five years each with a Rs5 million fine under section 9; ten years each with a Rs30 million fine under section 10; and two years each with a Rs1 million fine under section 26-A.
The couple was arrested on January 23 in connection with an altercation outside the Islamabad High Court. They were later presented before an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad under tight security. Lawyers and media personnel were barred from entering the courtroom.
The prosecution requested a seven-day physical remand in connection with the altercation case. Instead, ATC Judge Abul Hasanat Zulqarnain sent Mazari to jail on a 14-day judicial remand, while Chattha received a seven-day judicial remand.
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