An Islamabad district and sessions court began recording the statements of prosecution witnesses afresh in the controversial social media posts case against human rights activist and lawyer Imaan Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, on Wednesday.
The statements are being recorded again in compliance with directives issued by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) the previous day while hearing a petition filed by Mazari challenging the trial court’s November 19 order.
During the hearing on November 19, Mazari’s lawyer marked her presence while Chattha, too, was not present throughout the entirety of the proceedings. The court, however, had ordered the prosecution to proceed with the witnesses’ testimonies, to which Chatha had objected and questioned how the statements could be recorded in the absence of the accused.
Both Mazari and Chattha were present on Wednesday in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka as the process to record the statements of prosecution witnesses was reinitiated.
The statements of two prosecution witnesses, Afzal and Shahroz Riaz, were recorded. Meanwhile, the court was informed that the statements of two more prosecution witnesses were yet to be recorded.
Following the recording of the statements, Mazari informed the court that she had to travel to Rawalpindi.
At that, the court adjourned the hearing till Thursday (tomorrow).
The controversy at the centre of the case stems from a complaint filed on Aug 12, 2025 by the assistant director (investigating officer) at the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), Islamabad, before the Cybercrime Reporting Centre, FIA, under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca).
The complaint accused Mazari of disseminating and “propagating narratives that align with hostile terrorist groups and proscribed organisations,” while her husband was implicated for reposting some of her posts.
Consequently, an inquiry was initiated, and following its conclusion on Aug 22, 2025, a first information report was registered against the two, alleging commission of offences under sections 9, 10, 11 and 26-A of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA).
They were indicted in the case on October 30.
Mazari questions pace of trialA video posted on the social media platform X showed Mazari speaking to the media outside the court. In her remarks, she commented on the difference in the way the case was handled, saying that their presence had proven to be necessary.
“You will see a marked difference in the way the prosecution’s evidence was recorded before and how it was recorded today,” she said.
“This is why the presence of the accused in the court is really necessary …At this time we raise our objections; we ensure that the witness statement being recorded is indeed the witness’s own statement, that they are the authors of the documents they are having exhibited,” she explained.
At the same time, she also requested to review the rapid pace at which the case was being handled.
“We are satisfied with today’s hearing, but we obviously still have this request to allow a fair trial — a fair trial cannot be this speedy,” Mazari added.
“We are lawyers, we too have cases, and our lawyers also have cases. We are fully cooperating in this trial and will face it — just slow down a little,” she said.
She said that in today’s proceedings, they had asked that one of the witnesses show identification to prove to the court who he was, as he was not in uniform and didn’t have a service card.
“When he brought out his card, he brought out a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) card. He doesn’t even have a NCCIA card,” she said. “So how was he presented as a NCCIA witness to provide evidence?”
“This is the second time the prosecution is recording its witness statements, but even so, neither have they come prepared nor do they know what their witness is saying — they are standing there tutoring the witness, and even then the witness cannot give a proper testimony,” she added.
“So this shows you that this is a completely false, baseless, frivolous case,” she asserted.
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