There has never been enough pressure even powered by cyberbullying or arrest to put to silence one of the most prominent dissidents of Pakistan, the human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari.
She insists not to allow a jail sentence issued this weekend to suppress her determination.
The 32-year-old was propelled to fame as she addressed some of the hottest issues in the country as she championed ethnic minorities, journalists who were accused of defamation and clients accused of being blasphemers.
As Mazari became more popular, the number of her rap sheet also increased, as she was accused of cyber terrorism as well as hate speech.
On Saturday, an Islamabad court sentenced her and her husband, another lawyer called Hadi Ali Chattha, to 10 years in jail on charges of anti-state postings on social media.
The military was found guilty by a court document of spreading the most obscene content by the vocal critic of the Pakistan military.
The sentencing was a day following the re-arrest of the couple who were on their way to a court session in which they were going to appear before the judge to face the charges.
‘We will not back down’
Mazari told the court on Tuesday that the truth appeared to be too hard in this country.
She explained this to AFP by saying that they were prepared to pay that when she and she got into this line of work. “We will not back down.”
Her stand is comparable to that of a late prominent human rights lawyer in Pakistan called Asma Jahangir, which Mazari termed as a massive honour and a privilege.
Mazari is the daughter of a former Pakistani human rights minister, Shireen Mazari and her deceased father was the greatest paediatrician in the South Asian country.
The mother of AFP assured AFP that the family had found it hard to endure the threats that the family was experiencing due to the defence that her daughter was rendering to the dispossessed and marginalised a cause she said made her proud.
I think so many are living in pain and this is why we expect her to be as well made to suffer talking against the excesses against the human rights, she said.
Mazari has served as a pro bono lawyer in some of the most high profiled cases of Pakistan, such as forced disappearance of ethnic Balochs, and some of the community leading activists such as Mahrang Baloch.
She also spoke up on behalf of people accused of blasphemy -an incendiary one- and the Afghans who are being crack-downed by state officials.
The amendments in the constitution and the rushed legislations by the parliament have taken Pakistan towards stricter state control, and the political and civil liberties are dwindled.
Toor Mazari, a journalist represented by Asad Ali Toor in several instances, has given an answer that she turned out to be a constant bother to the state.
Since she is the representative of everybody on the receiving end of the state, either directly or indirectly, he informed AFP.
Although she has an extraordinarily wealthy family of origin, she has made life significantly harder on herself courtesy of her decisions in her activism, he said.
The University of Edinburgh graduate has also suffered sexist comments and falsified pictures on social media, in a society where the role of a woman in the work environment continues to be low.
In 2025, the World Expression Forum recognised Mazari as the Young Inspiration Award due to her extraordinary courage and integrity and contribution to the cause of advancing the rule of law and justice.
The UN special rapporteur of human rights defenders announced the same year that the cases against her seem to be indicative of an arbitrariness of the legal system to harass and intimidate.
In January 2026, the Pakistani military spokesperson targeted Mazari in a news conference and posted one of her X posts in building a case against the hidden agents of perpetrating minor crimes.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that they are executing terrorism in the interests of democracy and human rights.
Even with these allegations Mazari promised to carry on with her work with her husband.
This is not the first time you will see us in this country illegally imprisoned, so to speak, she informed AFP.
“We will keep fighting.”
Pressure and Imaan Mazari’s family background
Mazari is the daughter of a former federal human rights minister Shireen Mazari. Her mother informed AFP that although the family had received threats associated with her daughter being an activist she was proud of Mazari being an activist to defend the dispossessed and the marginalised.
Journalist Asad Ali Toor, who Mazari has defended in a number of cases, claimed that her legal practice goes directly against the power of the state. Although she has a very well-off family, he said that she has made her life a lot harder with the decisions she has made concerning her activism with AFP.
Mazari previously has experienced long-term Internet harassment, including sexist attacks, fabricated photographed personas and faces in a nation where the role of women in the life of the country is still minimal. In 2025, she was awarded by the World Expression Forum, the Young Inspiration Award in her work, AFP reported.
The UN special rapporteur of human rights defenders has stated the same year the cases against her had seemingly been an arbitrary interpretation of the law as a means to harass and intimidate her.
Her publicly targeted singling took place in January 2026 by the military of Pakistan. One of her posts on social media was quoted by the military spokesperson Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry in a press conference on the warning of the hidden elements. They work under the color of democracy and human rights to popularize terrorism, he said.
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