In a significant development, Imaan Mazari, the daughter of former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Shireen Mazari, has been granted post-arrest bail by the Anti-terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad in a terror financing case, as reported by The Express Tribune on Saturday.
The bail application of Imaan Mazari was approved by ATC-1 Judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain, who set a surety bond of Rs 10,000 (Pakistani currency). The court’s decision also included a prohibition on local authorities from arresting the human rights lawyer in any new cases that may arise.
The circumstances leading to Imaan’s arrest were marked by controversy. Just a few days earlier, an ATC court had granted bail to Mazari and Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Ali Wazir in a sedition case related to their alleged controversial speech against state institutions. Surprisingly, Imaan was taken into custody outside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi in connection with a new terror case, a move that took her legal team by surprise.
Imaan Mazari’s lawyer issued a statement expressing their lack of awareness regarding the case for which she had been arrested. The judge, however, permitted Imaan to meet her mother Shireen Mazari in the courtroom before the remand order was issued.
Zainab Janjua, Imaan’s legal counsel, opposed the police’s request for her client’s remand, citing that keeping a suspect in custody was not always necessary for the type of investigation the police intended to conduct. She pointed out that Imaan Mazari was a lawyer herself and had no intention of evading the legal process. Janjua invoked a Supreme Court decision that emphasized the unnecessary nature of arresting suspects in every case, and she labeled Imaan’s booking in the terror case as an act of victimization.
The events leading to Imaan Mazari’s arrest date back to August 20 when both Imaan and Ali Wazir were taken into custody following allegations of making controversial remarks during a public rally organized by the PTM. Charges against them included sedition, obstructing government officials in the performance of their duties, and causing damage to public property, as reported by Geo News.
During a subsequent court hearing, the prosecutor provided information regarding the number of attendees at the rally where Imaan Mazari delivered her contentious speech against state institutions. Additionally, during another hearing on August 24, it was revealed that voice matching and photogrammetry analysis had been conducted on Imaan Mazari and Ali Wazir. The investigating officer suggested that Imaan Mazari had used a piece of paper to deliver the speech in question.
The recent grant of post-arrest bail to Imaan Mazari represents a significant turn of events in her legal situation, allowing her some respite as her case continues to unfold.
