- Arrest warrants issued for Imaan Mazari, Hadi Ali Chattha.
- Judge Afzal Majoka issues show-cause notices to couple.
- Couple faces FIR invoking multiple sections of Peca, 2016.
A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Wednesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for lawyer and activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, in the controversial tweet case.
The couple has been named in a first information report (FIR), registered by the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency, accusing them of inciting divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts.
Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka issued the arrest warrants for Mazari and Chattha after they failed to appear before the court.
The court also issued show-cause notices to the couple and adjourned the hearing until tomorrow.
Chattha was arrested outside the court last week after he failed to appear before the court.
During the October 29 hearing, Judge Majoka ordered his arrest and the cancellation of Chattha’s bail bonds due to non-appearance.
“In my view, Hadi Ali Chattha did not submit the bail bonds,” the judge remarked and directed the investigation officer to present him before the court the following day.
Chattha was apprehended after he arrived at the courtroom later, with the judge saying that the matter would be addressed the following day (October 30).
The arrest came after the issuance of arrest warrants for both Mazari and her husband in the case, concerning the state and national security institutions.
The FIR, registered against the couple, invoked Sections 9, 10, 11 and 26 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), 2016.
The couple has been arrested in the past in different cases.
Mazari and Chattha were taken into custody in October 2024 in a case pertaining to alleged interference in government operations.
Islamabad police had arrested them for allegedly “creating a security risk” during the England cricket team’s visit by removing road barriers.
In August 2023, Mazari was taken into custody by Islamabad police alongside former lawmaker Ali Wazir in a sedition case.
Although she had secured the bail, she was immediately re-arrested outside Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail the same day in connection with a terrorism case.
She was eventually freed on September 2, 2023, after an Islamabad anti-terrorism court approved her post-arrest bail.
