ISLAMABAD (MNN); Lawyer and human rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, on Wednesday moved an Islamabad court seeking to summon the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) as a witness in a case registered against them over their social media posts.
The case was registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016. The couple has been accused of promoting linguistic divisions through social media and creating an impression that the armed forces were involved in terrorism within the country.
During the hearing, Mazari and Chattha submitted a written application before Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka, referring to a press conference addressed by the military spokesperson on January 6. They argued that remarks made during the briefing were widely broadcast on national media and directly related to matters currently under trial.
The application stated that the contents of the press conference reflected the prosecution’s case pending before the court, and summoning the DG ISPR was essential in the interest of natural justice and the constitutional right to a fair trial and due process.
The court directed that a copy of the application be provided to the prosecution and said it would decide the matter after hearing the prosecution’s response. Later, the court observed that a decision would be announced after the statements of the accused were recorded under Section 342 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
During the proceedings, prosecution witness Shahroz Riaz was cross-examined and made several admissions regarding the initiation of the inquiry and the collection of social media material.
The hearing was adjourned until January 8.
Case background:
The case originated from a complaint filed on August 12, 2025, at the NCCIA Islamabad. Mazari was accused of spreading narratives allegedly aligned with banned militant organisations, while her husband was implicated for reposting her content.
According to the FIR, the accused held security forces responsible for missing persons cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and portrayed the armed forces as ineffective against proscribed groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. The couple was indicted in October last year.
