ISLAMABAD – Pakistan rights activist and lawyer Imaan Mazari, and former lawmaker and PTM leader Ali Wazir granted bails by an anti-terrorism court in a sedition case following a controversial speech in a rally.
Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain heard the bail petition and approved the post-arrest bail of both the activists against a surety bound of Rs30,000 each.
Imaan was detained by law enforcers from her home in the early hours around a week back, while her mother, Pakistan’s former human rights minister, Shireen Mazari decried how her daughter was detained by over a dozen of people.
Previously, the Islamabad court granted a three-day physical remand of Imaan and Ali Wazir, a day after the duo attended the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) rally in Islamabad.
The arrest of prominent social activist and lawyer earlier appeared in trending sections on social media, with thousands sharing concerns for their release.
The arrests have been denounced by local and international rights organisations, political leaders, and activists.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan called Imaan and Wazir’s arrests point to a larger, more worrying pattern of state-sanctioned violence against people exercising their right to freedom of speech.
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