A district and sessions court in Islamabad has reissued non-bailable arrest warrants for lawyer and activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, in connection with a controversial tweet case.
The couple is named in a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency, accusing them of inciting divisions based on linguistic grounds through social media posts.
Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka issued the arrest warrants after Mazari and Chattha failed to appear in court. In addition, the court issued show-cause notices to the couple and adjourned the hearing until the following day.
Chattha had been arrested outside the court the previous week after failing to appear, leading to his detention following a ruling by Judge Majoka. The judge had also canceled Chattha’s bail bonds on October 29, 2025, due to his non-appearance, directing the investigation officer to bring him to court the next day.
The arrest followed the issuance of warrants for both Mazari and Chattha, related to the case involving national and state security institutions. The FIR invoked multiple sections of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016, including Sections 9, 10, 11, and 26.
Mazari and Chattha have been arrested previously in other cases. In October 2024, they were taken into custody in a case involving alleged interference in government operations during the England cricket team’s visit. They were accused of creating a security risk by removing road barriers. In August 2023, Mazari was arrested by Islamabad police in a sedition case, and although she was granted bail, she was re-arrested the same day in connection with a terrorism case. She was eventually freed on September 2, 2023, after the Islamabad anti-terrorism court approved her post-arrest bail.
