Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, the human rights attorney who was provided bail in a sedition case earlier today, was taken back into custody shortly after her release from Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.
According to the details, Imaan Mazari was arrested in a case registered in Bara Kahu police station in the federal capital. Islamabad police took the human rights activist into custody.
Read more: ATC sends Ali Wazir & Imaan Mazari on judicial remand
A video of her re-arrest is making the rounds on social media.
Imaan Mazari's re-arrest by Islamabad police, right after being granted bail by the anti-terrorism court #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/g6vSsnajor
— Ghulam Abbas Shah (@ghulamabbasshah) August 28, 2023
This turn of events follows a decision by an Islamabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday to release Mazari and Ali Wazir, a leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), on bail. The bail pertains to a sedition case linked to their contentious speech against state institutions.
ATC Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain heard the plea and approved post-arrest bail of Imaan and Wazir against surety bonds of Rs30,000 each. During the proceedings, the court read out the script of a speech given by Imaan Mazari at a rally, which was a key point of contention in the case.
Meanwhile, the prosecution opposed it, highlighting that the report of the USB (Universal Serial Bus) containing the speech had not yet been received, and forensic examination of the speech needed to be conducted.
This case has attracted notable interest, and additional advancements are anticipated as the investigation proceeds.
Read more: Pakistan court grants bail to rights activist and politician
Lawyer Imaan Mazari-Hazir and politician Ali Wazir were arrested under anti-terror laws last week after appearing at a protest by the PTM, which fights for the rights of ethnic Pashtuns.
Some 3,000 people attended that rally in the capital Islamabad, where both Mazari-Hazir and Wazir gave speeches condemning the harassment of Pashtuns and calling on state forces to end an alleged shadowy policy of secret detention.