A district and sessions court on Saturday completed the examination of prosecution witnesses in the controversial social media post case against lawyer and rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha.
During the previous hearing, Imaan and Chattha had objected after the apparent vanishing act of the court-appointed lawyer representing them in the case and the appointment of a new counsel.
Two days prior, the counsel appointed by the court had refused to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses, saying that he could not “ask questions dictated” to him.
The hearing today — held amid tense exchanges between police officials and lawyers — resumed with the state counsel continuing the witness examination process, where five witnesses appeared before the presiding judge, Additional District and Sessions Judge Afzal Majoka.
At the outset, the state counsel first completed the examination of the initial prosecution witness, Anisur Rehman, whose testimony set the tone for the day.
Three other witnesses — Shahroz, Waseem, and Imran Haider —appeared before the court and had their statements recorded without interruption.
However, the final witness, Afzal, arrived late, prompting a warning from Judge Majoka, who said he would be forced to close the evidence stage if the witness did not arrive.
During the hearing, the courtroom witnessed moments of bitterness as arguments erupted between members of the police and the defence, underscoring the heated nature of the case.
After the examination, Judge Majoka directed the counsel to prepare and submit the Section 342 Code of Criminal Procedure questionnaire to the accused.
“You are being given the questionnaire. You have to submit your answer,” the judge told the state counsel, directing that if the accused failed to provide their responses, the counsel would be responsible for doing so on their behalf.
Adjourning the hearing till December 4, the judge instructed the prosecution to submit the completed questionnaire by the next hearing.
The case against Imaan and Hadi was registered on the accusations of attempts to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts and of creating the impression that the armed forces were engaged in terrorism within the country.
