Imaan Mazari and Hadi Chattha back in Adiala hours after Supreme Court bail

Lawyer and rights activist Imaan Mazari-Hazir and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha were re-arrested on 17 September 2026 within hours of walking out of Adiala Jail on Supreme Court bail, and were sent straight back to the same jail on judicial remand in a different case.

Islamabad Police took the two into custody at the jail gate. The fresh case is registered at Kohsar police station and alleges an anti-state narrative, incitement and interference in official duties. It is separate from the social media convictions the Supreme Court had just suspended.

An anti-terrorism court heard the matter the same day. It turned down the police request for 30 days' physical remand, ordered judicial remand instead, and directed that both be medically examined with reports placed before it at the next hearing.

What the Supreme Court had ordered that morning

A two-member bench of Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim suspended the couple's prison sentences and ordered their release on bail against surety bonds of Rs 200,000 each, until the Islamabad High Court (IHC) decides their pending appeals.

The order does not overturn the conviction. It was meant to keep them out of jail while the appeal is heard. The Kohsar case has undone that in practice, because bail in one case does not cover custody in another.

The sentences under PECA

An Islamabad sessions court convicted both on 24 January 2026 under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA). Dawn lists the terms as:

The terms add up to 17 years, with fines. Dawn reports that the sentences run concurrently, which means a maximum of 10 years behind bars.

How the case got here

• 12 August 2025: the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) files the complaint.
• 30 October 2025: the couple are indicted.
• 23 January 2026: both are arrested as they leave the IHC.
• 24 January 2026: the sessions court convicts and sentences them.
• 7 February 2026: appeals filed at the IHC.
• 19 February 2026: the IHC refuses to suspend the sentences and issues notices.
• 12 May 2026: the Supreme Court tells the IHC to decide the suspension pleas within two weeks.
• 17 September 2026: with the plea still undecided, the Supreme Court suspends the sentences. The couple are released, re-arrested in the Kohsar case, and returned to Adiala on judicial remand.

The original case concerns posts in which, according to the prosecution, the couple held security forces responsible for missing persons in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and portrayed the armed forces as ineffective against groups such as the BLA and TTP. Their counsel, Faisal Siddiqui, argued that repeated adjournments at the IHC had gone past the deadlines the Supreme Court set.

What happens next

Two tracks now run in parallel. The IHC still has to decide the appeals against the January conviction. Separately, the anti-terrorism court will take up the Kohsar case, where the defence is expected to seek bail and to argue the case was registered to defeat the Supreme Court's order.

Judicial remand is ordinarily granted for 14 days at a time and is extendable. The medical examination the court ordered is the standard check on treatment in custody.

What this means for anyone who posts online

PECA applies to every social media user in Pakistan, not only activists. The PECA (Amendment) Act 2025, published on 29 January 2025, added Section 26-A on false or fake information: up to three years in prison, a fine of up to Rs 2 million, or both. The NCCIA investigates these complaints. Before you share a claim about a person or an institution:

• Check that it comes from a named, reliable source.
• Do not forward unverified videos or screenshots. Our fact-check of two viral Makkah videos shows how quickly old clips are passed off as new.
• If you receive an NCCIA notice, get a lawyer before you reply. The Mohammad Rizwan NCCIA case shows the courts expect you to answer the notice.