Pakistani authorities arrested human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, while they were traveling to a court hearing in Islamabad. The arrests, reportedly carried out with force and without presenting warrants on-site, have sparked widespread condemnation from legal associations, human rights groups, and civil society. Bar councils across Pakistan called the move unconstitutional and announced strikes in protest, warning of a renewed lawyers’ movement similar to the 2007 protests against military rule. The couple faces charges linked to alleged online content associated with banned organizations and prior protest-related cases, though supporters argue the arrests reflect growing repression and shrinking space for dissent in the country.
Bar bodies announce strike.