A Pakistani court sentenced two prominent human rights lawyers on Thursday to 10 years in prison under anti-terrorism legislation, in a case condemned by rights groups.
Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, had faced accusations of removing security barriers during a visit by the England cricket team.
Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra found that "to put the security of (the) team at risk clearly shows the intentions and objective of the accused to create a sense of terror", according to a copy of the court judgement obtained by AFP.
The document also detailed the pair's lengthy jail sentences.
The defendants had denied the allegations, saying they had been targeted for their human rights and legal work and were "being made an example to further cement the chilling effect against those who stand (or want to stand) against tyranny, oppression and injustice", the document said.
The couple were arrested in October 2024 over the allegations of removing police barriers during the team's visit to the capital Islamabad, but were later released.
They were arrested again in January 2026 and sentenced to 17 years in prison in a separate case involving social media posts. The Supreme Court suspended those sentences in September, but police rearrested them hours later on separate charges.
Following their rearrest, the New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Pakistani authorities to "stop using criminal prosecutions to punish lawyers engaged in peaceful dissent", and urged their immediate release.
Amnesty International also called their rearrest a "terrible injustice" at the time, saying the charges were "not only absurd but an insult to their lifelong commitment to human rights".
