ISLAMABAD: Veteran journalists and members of civil society have expressed profound concern over the continued delay in deciding the applications filed by human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her spouse, Hadi Ali Chattha, seeking suspension of their sentences pending appeal.

Despite the Supreme Court’s explicit direction of May 12, 2026, ordering the Islamabad High Court to decide the matter within two weeks, the applications remain unresolved. The repeated adjournments, amid the continued incarceration of the two prominent rights defenders, have raised serious concerns about the accessibility of timely and effective judicial remedies in the country.

The veteran journalists and civil society members who have expres­sed concern over the delays include Hussain Naqi, Farhatullah Babar, Zahid Hussain, Mustansar Javaid, Anwar Iqbal, Ali Ahmad Khan, Maz­­har Abbas, Dr Nazir Mahmood, Dr Touseef Ahmed Khan, Nasir Zaidi, Asmatullah Niazi, Munizae Jahangir, Mahnaz Rahman, Sohail Sangi, Nasir Malick, Adnan Reh­­mat, Iqbal Khattak, G.N. Mughal, Waris Raza, Habib Khan Ghori, Fouzia Shahid, Lala, Ayub Jan Sar­handi, Shafiq Awan, Abdul Sattar, Mohammed Riaz, Ayub Malik, Fauzia Rana and Jamil Ahmed.

While the substantive merits of any legal application remain strictly within the purview of the courts, prolonged procedural delays can raise serious questions regarding fundamental constitutional guarantees. The ongoing delay, they said, undermines protections relating to liberty, due process and fair trial as enshrined in Articles 4, 9 and 10-A of the Constitution.

The signatories are particularly concerned about the wider chilling effect that prolonged legal proceedings and incarceration pending appeal may have on the legal fraternity and independent human rights defenders. The state and the administration of justice must ensure that individuals engaged in lawful, rights-based advocacy are not subjected to judicial processes that effectively become punitive in themselves, they said.

The journalists and civil society members emphasised that the rule of law is strengthened not merely by the formal existence of legal remedies, but by ensuring that such remedies remain accessible, timely and effective.

With the next hearing scheduled for September 17, they urged the Supreme Court to ensure that the suspension applications are heard and decided without further delay, in order to uphold the sanctity of constitutional guarantees and the principle of timely justice.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2026