Pakistan: End the cycle of detention and judicial harassment of lawyers Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha
Fifteen organizations, including the International Commission of Jurists, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe, the Law Society of England and Wales and the New York City Bar Association, have called for the release of the two human rights lawyers. Mazari-Hazir and Chattha were rearrested within hours of the Supreme Court’s September 17 order suspending their sentences, in a 2025 protest case to which police had added an anti-terrorism charge. According to the statement, jail authorities failed to arrange the signed powers of attorney needed to file for bail, and on September 26 the anti-terrorism court issued a contempt notice to jail officials. The signatories say successive criminal cases are being used to keep the lawyers detained despite judicial orders granting them relief.