By The South Asia Times

ISLAMABAD -  A local court in Pakistan's capital city Islamabad has removed a controversial observation labeling certain countries as “terrorist states” from the verdict that convicted lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, in a social media posts case, official sources confirmed to daily Dawn.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka amended the judgment earlier this week and forwarded the revised version to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) registrar in a sealed envelope.

The judge had initially dictated the verdict to his stenographer, explicitly instructing that the paragraph containing the observation be deleted. However, the paragraph was inadvertently retained and included in the first signed copy of the judgment.

The error came to light after the prosecution flagged the paragraph and requested its removal. Judge Majoka subsequently expunged the observation, placed a corrected copy on the judicial record, and sent another sealed copy to the IHC registrar.

Disciplinary proceedings have also been initiated against the stenographer, who has been served a show-cause notice, according to court sources.

The deleted remark had appeared in paragraph 36 on page 18 of the original verdict and discussed the classification of certain countries as “terrorist states” in the context of international security. Legal experts noted that the observation had no direct relevance to the offences under trial, which pertained to alleged violations of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) for social media posts deemed critical of state institutions.

The Foreign Ministry had earlier distanced Pakistan from the remark, emphasizing that it did not reflect the country’s official policy and could create diplomatic complications with friendly nations.

“We have seen the judgment. These are views of the learned judge,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said during a weekly media briefing on Thursday.

“Pakistan, of course, does not subscribe to this opinion. This kind of designation of terrorist states does not exist either in UN parlance or under international law.”

Judge Majoka had on January 24 convicted Imaan and Hadi under PECA, sentencing each to 17 years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposing substantial fines over posts made between 2021 and 2025 that the court deemed anti-state. The removal of the “terrorist states” reference comes amid efforts to ensure judicial rulings do not create diplomatic friction with Pakistan’s international partners.