Islamabad, May 2 (IANS) The Human Rights Council of Pakistan (HRC-Pakistan) on Saturday called on the Pakistani government and the relevant judicial authorities to immediately safeguard the legal rights of human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha, warning that prolonged delay in their appeals could undermine the right to a free trial and rule of law.

The remarks came after both Imaan and her husband, Hadi, on Thursday reportedly filed a petition in Pakistan’s Supreme Court, requesting an early hearing of their appeals against their conviction under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) in the social media posts case.

The rights body expressed concern over the extraordinary delay in delivering justice to the two lawyers — “who have raised a powerful voice against human rights violations in Pakistan and for marginalised communities.”

“It is regrettable that more than 100 days have passed since their sentencing, yet no bench has been constituted for hearings, nor has there been any progress on their appeals. It is the fundamental responsibility of the state under Article 10-A of the Constitution of Pakistan to grant every citizen the right to a ‘fair trial’. Such treatment of human rights activists not only casts doubt on the rule of law but is tantamount to demoralising those who work for human rights,” the HRC stated.

Emphasising that delay in justice is tantamount to denial of justice, the rights body called on the superior judiciary in Pakistan to take immediate notice of the matter, constitute a regular bench to hear the appeals, and provide them with legal relief by fulfilling all the requirements of justice.

In the application filed in the Supreme Court, Imaan and Hadi had requested the grant of leave to appeal against the Islamabad High Court (IHC) order issued on February 17. Although the IHC in February had admitted the appeal against the trial court’s judgment and issued notices on the application for the suspension plea, it did not grant a stay on the sentence.

In the fresh application filed in the Supreme Court, the human rights lawyers have requested for fixing the appeals preferably in the week starting on May 4.

The petitioners have requested the court to accept the appeals and the suspension of the sentence awarded to them through the impugned judgment until the disposal of the criminal appeal pending before the IHC, Pakistani daily Dawn reported.

In January, a session court in Islamabad sentenced Imaan and her husband, Hadi, to a combined 17 years in prison and fined each of them 36 million Pakistani rupees on multiple charges in a case linked to social media posts.

The arrest and conviction of the human rights lawyers by the Pakistani authorities have drawn widespread criticism all over the world.

–IANS

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