Hours after an Islamabad anti-terrorism court awarded human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari bail in a sedition case, Pakistan police detained her again on Monday outside the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
The Islamabad police confirmed the arrest of Ms. Imaan on X, the old Twitter platform, citing her apprehension in connection with a terrorist case that was filed at the Bara Kahu police station.
The arrest occurs only hours after Ms. Imaan and former legislator Ali Wazir were given post-arrest release by the Islamabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) in exchange for surety bonds of Rs 30,000 apiece.
The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), a group of ethnic Pashtun people who are very critical of the army, organized a protest rally on August 20. Two days earlier, Ms. Imaan, the daughter of former human rights minister Shireen Mazari, and Wazir were taken into custody by Islamabad police.
Ms. Imaan spoke at a PTM demonstration in Islamabad, where she criticized the strong military establishment and the Pakistan Army, an ethnic group of activists who speak Pushtu.
The two were detained for putting on a sit-in, resisting, and interfering with state affairs, according to the first information report (FIR) that was filed against Ms. Imaan and Mr. Wazir.
As part of an ongoing investigation, the authorities wanted to speak with both of them. Two counts of illegal assembling, resistance, and “interference in state affairs” were made against the two.
In connection with the sedition case, the ATC placed Mr. Wazir and Ms. Imaan on a three-day police remand on August 21.
The prosecution’s motion to prolong Ms. Imaan and Mr. Wazir’s physical detention in the case was denied by the court on August 24, and the two were placed on judicial remand in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.
ATC Judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain granted bail to Ms. Imaan and Mr. Wazir during the case’s Monday hearings in exchange for ₹30,000 surety bonds from each of them.
According to a source in The Express Tribune newspaper, 700 to 800 individuals took part in the sit-in and some of them were armed with sticks and some even had guns as they sought to rebel against the government and march on the capital. This information was included in the formal complaint filed against Mr. Wazir and Ms. Imaan.
According to the report, the demonstrators stopped GT Road, the major thoroughfare, and then staged a demonstration in the center of the road.
According to the report, the participants assaulted a government car, got into fights with the police, and even managed to yank an anti-riot kit from an officer when the security guards attempted to stop them.
The Pakistani Human Rights Commission requested Imaan’s immediate and unconditional release and denounced her detention. It criticised the actions of the Islamabad Police as “unacceptable”.
Renowned for her fierce support of human rights and her independent thinking, Ms. Imaan and her mother got into a public altercation during Ms. Imaan’s tenure as a minister when she criticized the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
In recent months, the government of Pakistan has clamped down on dissent. Imran Khan, the former prime minister, was also sentenced to three years in prison earlier this month after a court found him guilty of corruption.
