Quetta, Oct 30 (IANS) A leading human rights organisation on Friday severely condemned the 10-year prison sentences handed down to human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, in Pakistan, in connection with a security breach case, describing it as a "clear example of the helplessness of the judiciary in Pakistan, the absence of justice, and a system based on military dominance".

The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) said that sentencing the couple to 10 years in prison each "is an attempt to silence the struggle for the defence of human rights and justice."

It stated that Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha were not only lawyers but human rights activists who always raised their voices against the atrocities committed against the Baloch, Pashtun, and other oppressed nations, and have consistently played a leading role in the struggle for justice.

In a statement shared on X, the BYC said, "Sentencing Iman Zainab Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha to ten years in prison each is a clear example of the helplessness of the judiciary in Pakistan, the absence of justice, and a system based on military dominance. It is a reality that those who tirelessly struggle day and night to secure justice for others in a tyrannical state, and who raise their voices for the protection of human rights, eventually find themselves standing in the dock of a court under an oppressive system, forced to face state injustice themselves."

It mentioned that Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha expressed solidarity with the family impacted by state oppression, including enforced disappearances. The couple, the statement mentioned, is today facing injustice under the very system against which they have spoken for the rights of the oppressed. It said that the couple has been deprived of justice and was dealing with injustice.

On Thursday, the anti-terrorism court in Islamabad announced verdict in a case connected to removing barricades placed on the road during a cricket match in Islamabad in 2024 and sentenced Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha to 10 years in prison each, raising questions over the impartiality of the judicial system.

Imaan and Hadi were also fined Pakistani Rupees (PKR) one lakh each under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997. The court directed that all sentences run concurrently, bringing their total imprisonment to 10 years each.

"The question is: Is raising one's voice for justice a crime? Is standing with oppressed nations a punishable act? And is the attempt to silence those who defend human rights precisely because they dare to speak out against state oppression? The sentence handed down to Iman Zainab Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha is not merely the punishment of two individuals; rather, it is an alarming message to all those voices that speak out for the oppressed and resist injustice. When lawyers and human rights activists begin to feel unsafe themselves, it is only natural for questions to arise about the entire justice system," the BYC posted on X.

"However, history bears witness that truth cannot be eradicated through the hardships of imprisonment. The high walls of prisons may temporarily restrict a voice, but they cannot silence forever the voices raised for right and justice. The sentencing of Iman Zainab Mazari and Hadi Ali Chatha poses a critical question to all individuals struggling for justice, freedom of expression, and human rights: Does the freedom to raise one's voice for the oppressed truly exist in this country?," it added.

The BYC urged human rights organisations, representative bodies of lawyers, civil society, and international human rights institutions to take notice of this matter and raise their voices for the provision of justice.

--IANS

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