The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday issued notices to the police and complainant — a representative of the Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces — in a case against activist and lawyer Imaan Mazari-Hazir for allegedly “abusing and defaming the senior command of the Pakistan Army”.
A first information report (FIR) was registered against Mazari-Hazir on May 26 at the capital’s Ramna police station on the complaint of Lt Colonel Iftikhtar. She had been booked under sections 505 (inciting people against armed forces) and 138 (abetment of act of insubordination by soldier) of the Pakistan Penal Code, but was later granted pre-arrest bail by the IHC.
The FIR said that Mazari-Hazir had made a “derogatory and hateful” statement on May 21, the day her mother, former human rights minister Shireen Mazari, was arrested from outside her house in a land ownership and transfer case.
On May 30, the activist was summoned before the investigation team and asked to record her statement but she sought time for submitting a written statement after consulting her counsel.
At the hearing today, Mazari-Hazir submitted her statement to the IHC. Justice Minallah, after reading the statement, observed that the activist’s comments were unintentional. “You have clearly written that you were under stress and expressed concerns,” he said.
The judge then asked her if she told those things to the police after being included in the investigation.
Subsequently, Mazari-Hazir’s lawyer, Zainab Janjua, replied that her client had answered all the questions by the police.
“The petitioner’s mother was picked up. She (Mazari-Hazir) was in distress,” Janjua told the court. “We haven’t even talked about the Pakistan Army. There is no question of spreading hatred [against them],” she added.
At this, Justice Minallah remarked that after this statement, the institution should retract its complaint. “We are issuing notices to the respondents on the petition and seek replies from them,” he added and adjourned the hearing till June 9.
