ISLAMABAD: A trial court in Islamabad has removed a controversial section from its judgment in the social media case against rights activist and lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, which had referred to certain countries as “terrorist states.”

The couple was convicted last week under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016 in a case registered by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) over alleged posts and reposts on X that investigators described as “anti-state.”

Earlier, District and Sessions Judge Afzal Majoka had noted that the accused described Pakistan as a “terrorist state,” adding that such a designation was officially applied to Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Syria. The observation drew questions at the Foreign Office briefing, where the spokesperson clarified that Pakistan does not subscribe to such a classification, which has no basis in UN or international law.

On January 27, the judge issued a fresh order acknowledging that the reference was a clerical error. NCCIA Special Public Prosecutor Muhammad Usman Rana had filed an application on January 24 seeking correction, arguing that the sentence was vague, unsupported by law, precedent, or international instruments.

The order explained that the stenographer mistakenly included the sentence during final printing despite its deletion in earlier corrections. Citing Section 152 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the judge ruled that clerical or accidental errors may be corrected at any time.

“The sentence has no relevancy and no nexus with the determination of rights of the parties. It is not supported by any statutory provision, judicial precedent, executive notification, international instrument or authoritative reference. Consequently, the sentence is deleted,” the order stated.

This correction comes after public scrutiny of the judgment and clarifies that Pakistan does not recognise or apply the concept of “terrorist states” in its official policy.