S. Hayat

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.”