A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Thursday rejected lawyer and activist Imaan Mazari’s plea for acquittal in the controversial tweet case.
Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka also turned down miscellaneous appeals filed by both Mazari and her husband, Advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, in the case.
The rejected appeals include their request for a second cross-examination and Chattha’s application, which challenges the appointment of a state counsel.
Advocate Sher Afzal Marwat, who represented both accused at the hearing, urged the court to grant them a day to prepare answers for the Section 342 questions.
Responding to his plea, Judge Majoka told Marwat to answer the prosecution’s questions, saying he would give the defence team a date for tomorrow after their response.
During the hearing, Marwat expressed frustration with the presence of security personnel, calling the atmosphere “suffocating”.
“This is a court, not a police station – why is there so much police?” he asked.
Meanwhile, the state counsel submitted the Section 342 statements on behalf of both Mazari and Chattha.
The court then adjourned the proceedings till tomorrow for the final arguments in the case.
The case against the couple stems from a first information report (FIR), registered by the National Cybercrime Investigation Agency, accusing the couple of inciting divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts.
The FIR, registered against the couple, invoked Sections 9, 10, 11, and 26 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), 2016.
The same court issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the couple after they failed to appear before the court for a hearing on November 5.a
A day later, the judge withdrew the warrants after Mazari and Chattha appeared before the court for the following hearing.