Geneva/Kashgil News
Five UN special rapporteurs have expressed deep concern over the prosecution of two prominent human rights lawyers, Ms. Iman Zainab Mazari Hazir and Mr. Hadi Ali Chatha, in a formal letter to the Pakistani government. The representatives have warned that the criminal charges brought against them, including “cyber terrorism”, appear to be an attempt to silence a lawyer.
The letter was sent on December 22, 2025, and describes the treatment meted out to the two lawyers as “a pattern of legal harassment”. The letter states that Iman Mazari Hazir and Hadi Ali Chatha are prominent lawyers involved in criminal defense, constitutional cases and representing victims of enforced disappearances and blasphemy.
The communication, which is referenced as AL PAK 17/2025, was jointly signed by five UN special mandate holders, including the representatives on the freedom of judges and lawyers, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, human rights defenders and human rights and counter-terrorism.
The letter was written after the two lawyers were convicted in a cyberterrorism case on January 24. They were found guilty under sections 9, 10 and 26-A of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act 2016, and sentenced to multiple sentences, including one year in prison each. They were also fined a total of Rs36 million for the cyberterrorism charge.
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