ISLAMABAD, Oct 29:
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Tuesday approved a three-day physical remand of prominent lawyer and human rights activist Imaan Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali, handing over the couple to the police in a case related to alleged interference in government operations.
Imaan and Ali were arrested on Monday after they tried to remove barriers installed by the police during a recently concluded test match between England and Pakistan.
In a post on X, the Islamabd Police on Monday said it arrested Imaan and Hadi “as per the law and regulations for creating a security risk by interfering in state duties during an international cricket team’s visit.”
They were produced before Islamabad Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain on Tuesday, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The prosecution sought Imaan and Ali’s 30-day physical remand.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the judge reserved the verdict.
Later, Judge Zulqarnain approved only a three-day remand, rejecting the request for 30 days’ custody, the paper added.
Imaan’s mother, former human rights minister Shireen Mazari, was also present in the court.
She had earlier said that the Islamabad police on Friday had “swung a steel barrier deliberately into her, assaulting her”, referring to a purported video being shared on X. She also alleged that the police action had “injured” her daughter.
While the police statement on Monday mentioned “interference in state duties, it emerged on Tuesday that the FIR against the couple also invoked Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, the paper said.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan condemned the couple’s arrest, saying it was made on “vague charges”.
It is not the first time that Imaan has been arrested.
In August last year, Imaan was arrested by the Islamabad police along with former lawmaker Ali Wazir in a sedition case over a rally made at a speech.
After getting bail in that case after more than a week, she was re-arrested outside the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi in a terrorism case the same day.
She was released from jail on September 2, 2023, after an Islamabad anti-terrorism court granted her post-arrest bail. (PTI)
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