The police said on social media platform X, “Taking legal action, Islamabad police have arrested Imaan Mazari and Hadi Ali as per the law and regulations for creating a security risk by interfering in state duties during an international cricket team’s visit.”

“Imaan Mazari has been arrested this morning. State fascism in full swing,” said Imaan’s mother Shireen Mazari in a post on X.

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Referring to a purported video being shared on X, the former human rights minister claimed that the Islamabad police on Friday had “swung a steel barrier deliberately into her, assaulting her”.

The video purportedly shows Imaan and her husband moving road barriers to clear the path for traffic.

Traffic constables and a man in a jacket can be seen moving the barriers back to their original positions to close the road as Imaan Mazari makes multiple attempts to remove them.

The lawyer’s mother alleged that the police action had “injured” her daughter.

The couple’s arrest has been condemned by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on “vague charges of ‘creating a security risk’”.

The group said in a post on X,  “Both are committed, well-respected human rights defenders, whose arbitrary arrest is symptomatic of the rapidly shrinking space for activists in Pakistan. Ms Mazari-Hazir and Mr Ali must be released immediately and unconditionally and all charges against them dropped.”

Senior journalist Hamid Mir called the couple’s arrest “unacceptable”. In a post on X the veteran journalist said that their arrest “may satisfy the egos of some powerful people but it will give very bad name not only to [Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif] but to the whole state of Pakistan”.