Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha Sentenced to 10 Years in Security Breach Case

Assalam-o-Alaikum, my dear readers. I hope you are well. I am Maryam, and today I am writing about a court decision that many people in Pakistan are talking about, in homes, in offices, and on social media. When a story is this sensitive, the most caring thing I can do is simple: tell you exactly what the court decided, what the two sides said, and what happens next. No rumours. No shouting. Just the facts, in plain words.

On Thursday, 29 October 2026, an anti-terrorism court sentenced human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, to 10 years in prison each. The judge announced the verdict at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where the couple have been held. The case is called a security breach case. It goes back to October 2024, when the England cricket team was visiting Pakistan.

What Did the Court Decide?

The court gave the couple more than one sentence, but said all the sentences will run at the same time. In simple words, that means the total time they must serve is 10 years each, not 10 years plus 2 years plus 1 year added together.

According to the court order, as reported by Geo News, the breakdown is this. Under Section 353 of the Pakistan Penal Code, each of them received two years in prison and a fine of Rs50,000. Under Section 186, each received one year in prison and a fine of Rs50,000. Under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, each received 10 years in prison and a fine of Rs100,000. Because the sentences run concurrently, the effective punishment is 10 years each. Reports also say the court gave them credit for time already spent in custody.

The judge in the case was Tahir Abbas Sipra of the anti-terrorism court. The court had reserved its judgment on 27 October, after hearing final arguments. The prosecution presented seven witnesses during the trial, according to reports of the court proceedings. Charges in this case were framed on 7 October this year, and the couple pleaded not guilty.

What Was the Case About?

The case was registered at Aabpara Police Station in Islamabad. The allegation was that the couple put the England team’s security at risk. Reuters reported that the couple were accused of endangering an international cricket team’s security plans by staging a protest and blocking a road in a 2024 case. Other reports of the court order say the allegation was that they removed barriers placed along a route secured for the visiting team, and encouraged public unrest.

In the judgment, the court said the couple acted to create a sense of terror and put the team’s security at risk, according to a report of the judgment carried by Al Jazeera with AFP. I am reporting the court’s words as reported. I was not in the courtroom, and I have not seen the full written judgment myself.

Here, I want to pause and be very clear about something. A court verdict is a court verdict. It is not a WhatsApp forward, and it is not a television debate. In Pakistan, when a court decides a case, the people affected have a right to appeal to a higher court. That appeal process is part of the same legal system. So when you read this story, please read it to the end, including what the couple said and what their family plans to do next. A fair picture needs all the parts.

What Did Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha Say?

The couple denied the charges. In statements seen by Reuters, they said, “We are prisoners of conscience,” and said they were being targeted for their human rights work. In their statements recorded in court, they rejected the charges and described the case as harassment meant to punish them for their human rights advocacy, according to Dawn’s reporting of their statements. They said the evidence produced during the trial was not against them, but was, in their words, a charge sheet against the prosecution witnesses and police officials and the state.

Their lawyer had asked the court to postpone the verdict. The argument, as reported by Geo News, was that petitions were still pending before the Supreme Court and the Islamabad High Court, and the decision should wait until those petitions were decided. The court went ahead and announced the verdict on Thursday.

Mazari’s mother, Shireen Mazari, who served as human rights minister in former prime minister Imran Khan’s cabinet, told Reuters that Mazari and Chattha “were not permitted to defend themselves through their own lawyer, and were not provided with key legal documents.” She said the family will file a petition against the verdict in the Supreme Court. The public prosecutor did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Reuters also reported that Mazari has won international recognition for speaking out against the disappearances of political activists and for defending minorities and journalists, and that the couple have drawn support from rights groups that have condemned their imprisonment. Pakistan’s law minister, Azam Nazeer Tarar, has repeatedly said the country’s judiciary is independent, Reuters reported.

Is This the Same as the Social Media Case?

No. This is important, because many posts on social media mix two different cases together. Please do not mix them.

The couple have been in custody since their arrest on 23 January this year, in a separate case over social media posts that prosecutors said were anti-state. A sessions court sentenced them each to 17 years the next day under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act. The Supreme Court suspended those sentences on 17 September. But police re-arrested them the same day in this security breach case. So the 10-year sentence announced on Thursday is in the security breach case, not the social media case. The social media case has its own appeal process, which is still before the Islamabad High Court.

Reports also say the couple’s bail applications in a separate protest case are listed for 3 November. Until a higher court rules, both remain in Adiala Jail. That is the position as reported on Thursday. If a higher court changes anything, I will report that change with the same care, and I will not hide it.

Why Are People Talking About This So Much?

There are a few reasons, and I will share them honestly, as my own observation, not as a court fact. First, Imaan Mazari is a well-known name. Many young lawyers, students, and journalists in Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi follow her work. Second, the case touches two things Pakistanis care deeply about: the safety of visiting cricket teams, which matters to every cricket lover in this country, and the right of lawyers and citizens to protest and speak, which matters to every citizen. When those two things meet in one courtroom, people feel strongly, on both sides.

Third, and this is the hardest part, the news reached people in pieces. One channel showed one headline. One social media page showed a different headline. Some posts claimed things the court never said. Some posts left out the couple’s denial completely. That is why I wrote this article the slow way, checking Reuters, Dawn, Geo News, and the court order reports, and keeping every claim tied to the source that reported it. If a detail is disputed, I have said who said it. That is the only honest way to write about a court case.

I will not tell you what to think about this verdict. That is not my job. My job is to make sure you know what happened, in words a school student in Rawalpindi or a shopkeeper in Saddar can understand, so you can form your own view from facts, not from noise. Courts decide. Higher courts review. Families appeal. Journalists report. Citizens read, think, and discuss with respect. That is how a fair system is supposed to work, even when we disagree about one decision.

Dear readers, court news is never easy to write, and never easy to read. But silence helps no one, and rumours help even less. I have written what was decided, what was alleged, what was denied, and what comes next, and I have named my sources so you can check them yourself. If the Supreme Court or any higher court changes this decision, that news deserves the same clear reporting, and I promise you will find it here.

Take care, and please discuss this story with kindness, even when you disagree. If you have questions, please ask me through our Contact Us page. Take care.