New Delhi, October 11, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
A group of academics and scholars of Pakistani origin working at universities in the United States and the United Kingdom has called for the immediate release of human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha, who remain in detention in Pakistan.
The signatories have demanded the withdrawal of charges against the two lawyers, describing their detention as a serious concern for freedom of expression, the rule of law and the independence of legal advocacy.
According to a report published by Dawn, the academics criticised the Pakistani authorities over the continued detention of the lawyers, alleging that legal proceedings had been used to keep them behind bars despite a Supreme Court order suspending their sentences and granting them bail.
The two lawyers were reportedly sentenced to 17 years in prison in January 2026 under Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) over social media posts critical of alleged human rights abuses.
The academics said Pakistan’s Supreme Court suspended their sentences and granted them bail on September 17, 2026. However, police reportedly took them into custody within hours in connection with a separate case. They are said to remain detained.
The signatories highlighted the lawyers’ human rights work, noting that Mazari had spoken out against enforced disappearances, represented victims and their families, and publicly challenged the country’s powerful establishment.
Chattha, meanwhile, has defended people facing blasphemy charges and represented prisoners on death row, the report said.
“Criminal law must not become a weapon for silencing dissent or intimidating lawyers for their advocacy,” the academics said in their statement.
They also invoked Pakistan’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the country is a state party, arguing that it must protect the right to criticise state institutions.
The signatories maintained that a 17-year prison sentence for social media commentary was inconsistent with those obligations. They also cited positions taken by international legal bodies, including the International Commission of Jurists, according to Dawn.
The academics urged Pakistan’s federal government, judiciary and other state institutions to fulfil the country’s constitutional and international legal obligations and ensure that the two lawyers are not subjected to further arbitrary detention.
Among the prominent signatories are Ayesha Siddiqa of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Fahd Hamayun of Tufts University, Hashim bin Rashid of the University of Pennsylvania, Maria Rashid of the University of Wolverhampton, Raza Rumi of the City University of New York, Reem Khurshid of University College London, Yunus Samad of the University of Bradford and Zoha Waseem of the University of Warwick.
The international academic support adds to calls for the release of the two lawyers, with concerns centred on the treatment of human rights defenders, freedom of expression and the use of criminal law against legal professionals in Pakistan.
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