Lawyers staged a strike and protest demonstrations at the Islamabad High Court and Islamabad District and Sessions Courts on Monday against the inappropriate conduct of police officials during the arrest and court verdict against rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha.
The protest initially took place at the main gate of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association, where the association president, Wajid Gilani, senior lawyer Dr Babar Awan, and other bar office-bearers participated.
The demonstrators condemned what they described as police high-handedness and disrespectful behaviour toward members of the legal fraternity.
Similarly, lawyers belonging to the District Bar Association Islamabad also organised a rally from the DC Office to the SSP Office and subsequently marched from the district courts to the DIG Office.
The rally was led by District Bar President Naeem Gujar and High Court Bar President Wajid Gilani, along with other bar officials. Members of the Islamabad Bar Council, including Aleem Abbasi, also joined the protest.
The lawyers staged a sit-in outside the DIG Office, where they blocked one side of the road and raised slogans against the police.
Protesters chanted slogans such as “Police brutality unacceptable” and “State oppression unacceptable,” accusing law enforcement agencies of targeting lawyers.
Islamabad High Court Bar Association Secretary Manzoor Jajja said that lawyers across Islamabad observed a complete strike and refrained from appearing before courts in protest.
He said that lawyers had been requested to boycott court proceedings for the day, a call that was fully observed, as slogans of “Long live lawyers’ unity” and “Down with police brutality” echoed during the demonstration.
The protesting lawyers carried banners reading “Justice for lawyers” and demanded accountability for unlawful police actions.
Addressing the protesters, former law minister Dr Babar Awan said that judges had earlier taken to the streets and now lawyers had been forced to do the same.
He alleged that state oppression against lawyers was underway and warned that police excesses were harmful to society and the rule of law.
On January 23, 2026, police arrested prominent rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, while they were travelling from the Islamabad High Court to the district courts in connection with a controversial tweets case. Later the same day, both were sent to jail on judicial remand.
The following day, on Saturday, January 24, 2026, the Islamabad District and Sessions Courts sentenced Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali Chattha to 17 years’ imprisonment each in the controversial tweets case, a development that further intensified backlash from the legal community.
