By Mubasher Bukhari
LAHORE, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday suspended 17-year prison sentences handed to prominent rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband, and ordered them freed on bail, lifting a detention that has been criticised by activists.
Mazari, a vocal critic of Pakistan's powerful military, and her husband Hadi Ali Chattha, also a lawyer, were convicted in January on charges of sending anti-state social media posts.
Both have denied the charges, saying they were being persecuted for raising their voice against disappearances of nationalist activists.
Mazari challenged the conviction in Islamabad High Court and then took her case to the Supreme Court. That top tribunal said it was issuing its ruling on Thursday pending the decision by the lower court, expected within weeks.
"I am grateful to the Supreme Court for finally delivering justice to the couple," said Mazari’s mother, Shireen Mazari, who served as human rights minister under jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The family was still waiting for the couple to be freed, she told Reuters.
Mazari has earned international recognition for defending ethnic minorities and journalists in Pakistan.
She and her husband were convicted in January under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act for social media posts critical of military operations in the insurgency-stricken provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
United Nations experts, Amnesty International and other groups questioned the trial's fairness. Pakistan said its judiciary was independent.
(Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
