Alifya Sohail

I endured just five hours of illegal detention. Thousands endure far worse for far longer at the hands of Sindh Police. I can't begin to imagine their ordeal. If we speak for those with lesser privileges, many more could come home too. Thank you @MJibranNasir, Karachi civil society and media comrades.

BREAKING: The judgment convicting lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha of terrorism runs 22 pages. On page 20, ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra concedes this was “a very common nature ordinary type of incident apparently of removal of a barrier.” Two pages later, he sentences them to ten years for it. Take away the terrorism section and his own sentence for what they did is two years. He acquitted them of conspiracy, noting “no investigation was conducted,” and of armed rioting and criminal intimidation. The terrorism clause he relied on covers serious violence against police. The prosecution's own witnesses testified that no officer was injured. The constable at the centre of the case was never medically examined. Under oath, he conceded that the person who got hit was Imaan, struck by the barrier he was holding. The court located the terror in the public's fear, yet no member of the public testified. The judge explained that people “always remain reluctant to become a witness.” The only alleged weapon in the case is an iron fist. Police said they found it in a car they had held for two days, after the High Court had suspended the couple's remand, and it was never shown in court. The judge counted it anyway, writing that the assault was “supported by the recoveries.” His verdict on the cross-examination of those police witnesses: “nothing fruitful could be extracted.”

BREAKING: Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha have been sentenced to ten years in prison for removing road barriers in October 2024, by ATC Islamabad.

“We have been tried in a cage, in violation of our basic human dignity and our right to due process and fair trial, but we have complete peace of mind in the knowledge that God exalts who He wills to exalt and disgraces who He wills to disgrace/“wa tou izzu man tasha/wa tou zillo man tasha.” — Imaan and Hadi’s testimony. #ReleaseImaanAndHadi

“I have not committed any crime and my track record attests to my deeply-held commitment to the rule of law. I also want to categorically state that standing against oppression, injustice and tyranny entails personal cost and suffering. This is a universal truth but history remembers those who resist injustice while those who perpetrate it are condemned for all times to come.” — Imaan Mazari testified in court. #ReleaseImaanAndHadi

تم ہنسو گے کہ یہ کمزور سی آواز ہے کیا جھنجھنایا ہوا، تھرّایا ہوا ساز ہے کیا اَن گنت روحوں کی فریاد ہے شامل اِس میں سسکیاں بن کے دھڑکتے ہیں کئی دل اِس میں تہ نشیں موج یہ طوفان بنے گی اک دن نہ ملے گا کسی تحریک کو ساحل اِس میں اِس کی یلغار مِری ذات پہ موقوف نہیں اِس کی گردش مِرے دن رات پہ موقوف نہیں ہنس تو سکتے ہو، گرفتار تو کر سکتے ہو خوار و رسوا سرِ بازار تو کر سکتے ہو اپنی قہّار خدائی کی نمائش کے لیے مجھ کو نذرِ رسن و دار تو کر سکتے ہو

Imaan Mazari’s court testimony: “I am a prisoner of conscience who has been at the receiving end of state persecution since at least 2022 for my human rights and legal work. It is deeply painful for me that while my work on human rights has received recognition abroad, even today, my family and I continue to suffer reprisals for the same in my home country. I have not committed any crime and my track record attests to my deeply-held commitment to the rule of law. I also want to categorically state that standing against oppression, injustice and tyranny entails personal cost and suffering. This is a universal truth but history remembers those who resist injustice while those who perpetrate it are condemned for all times to come. We have been tried in a cage, in violation of our basic human dignity and our right to due process and fair trial, but we have complete peace of mind in the knowledge that God exalts who He wills to exalt and disgraces who He wills to disgrace.” #ReleaseImaanAndHadi

“We have spent the third year of our marriage in jail for our human rights work and have thus suffered painful separation from one another so early into our marriage. We have not done so far any personal gain, in fact, we have endured only hardship for our work/activism. But we surrender ourselves before the ultimate court where we all must return one day, where all will be held accountable for what they have done.” — Imaan and Hadi’s testimony in court today.

“We have endured only hardship for our work. But we surrender ourselves before the ultimate court where we all must return one day, where all will be held accountable for what they have done.” — Hadi Ali Chattha’s testimony in court today.