Human rights activist Imaan Mazari, along with her husband Hadi Ali Chattha, has been arrested on charges of interfering with official duties and assaulting traffic wardens in Islamabad on Monday. It reported in media that couple was detained by Islamabad's Aabpara Police after a confrontation at Zero Point three days back on October 25, where a police checkpoint had been set up for the England cricket team’s security route. A video surfaced showing Imaan Mazari's husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, allegedly assaulting a traffic police officer at the checkpoint and removing obstacles on the road. Reports suggest that the incident began when Imaan Mazari attempted to remove police barricades, leading to an argument and intervention by her husband. Hadi Ali Chattha then allegedly resorted to physically attacking the police officer. As per the details of the incident, a heated altercation broke out between Imaan Mazari and the Islamabad Traffic Police due to road blockages in the city on Friday morning. The incident occurred at Zero Point on Islamabad Express Highway, where Imaan Mazari and her accompanying lawyer removed barriers while the police continued to replace them.

As per the channel report, the confrontation escalated when the lawyer accompanying Imaan Mazari allegedly slapped a traffic officer after heated words. Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir is a well-known human rights lawyer in Pakistan and the daughter of Shireen Mazari, a former federal minister backed by PTI. She is of Baloch ethnicity and is recognised for her legal work related to the abductions and racial profiling of Baloch students in Islamabad. Imaan graduated from the University of Edinburgh, where she began her legal journey while pursuing her studies. In December 2023, she married Abdul Hadi, a fellow human rights lawyer.  She faced arrest on August 20, 2023, after a rally organised by the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) in Islamabad. Videos from the rally showed her criticising the military for alleged abductions.  While she was released on bail on August 28, she was re-arrested immediately outside Adiala Jail in a new case involving terrorism charges.  However, on September 2, an Islamabad anti-terrorism court granted her post-arrest bail in that case.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan