ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Two human rights lawyers were over the weekend sentenced to 17 years each in prison by a Pakistani court over media posts the authorities claimed were hostile to the state and its security institutions

Judge Afzal Majoka announced the verdict a day after Zainab Mazari and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha were arrested in Islamabad.

The couple appeared briefly via video link, but since they boycotted the hearing, the court concluded the trial and delivered the verdict. Family and friends denounced the ruling. The couple denied all the changes.

The court said that Mazari had shared many tweets over the past few years that supported the ideas of banned Baloch separatist groups and the Pakistani Taliban.

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency filed a complaint in August 2025, which led to the case being opened. According to the complaint, Mazari and her husband criticized the government and security forces on social media. They were officially charged in October, but refused to appear in court on several occasions.

In his decision, the judge said that Mazari often posted offensive, false, and anti-state content on social media, and that her husband helped her. The judge said her tweets spread false stories about state institutions and broke the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, a law passed last year to stop fake news and hate speech.

Prosecutors also said her posts matched the views of banned terrorist groups.

The judge said both Mazari and her husband deliberately tried to delay and block the court case, showed disrespect to the court, and harmed the justice process.

Rights groups in Pakistan and abroad criticized the arrests and asked for the couple to be released immediately.

Amnesty International said their arrest was part of ongoing efforts by Pakistani authorities to harass and scare critics. It said the couple were arrested while going to a court hearing and that police used too much force. No apparent reason was given at the time, which raised concerns about their safety.

Human rights workers in Pakistan are facing more pressure from the government, which is cracking down on criticism. Mazari and her husband often defended journalists, politicians, and activists who were held by security forces without charges or court hearings.

Mazari is the daughter of Shireen Mazari, a former human rights minister under ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan. Shireen Mazari called the court decision completely illegal in a post on the social media platform X.

Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar praised the verdict against the pair. "As you sow, so shall you reap!" he wrote on X, adding that they had been sentenced under the cyber laws.