Mian Sami ud-Din

Emptying the Cup

[Ayesha A.Qayyum 🇵🇰🇵🇸🍁 @AyeshaA_Q]

To civil society, journalists, and state officials:

I am writing as a grieving wife, seeking the immediate and lawful release of my husband, Muhammad Saad.

At approximately 3:30 AM this Monday, 12–13 masked men with guns forcibly entered our home and took him away without presenting any warrant or lawful authority. This was an unlawful deprivation of liberty and a direct violation of due process.

Only after legal pressure did personnel within CTD register an FIR on laughable grounds. This post facto action raises serious concerns of mala fide intent and abuse of process, where the law is invoked after the fact to justify an illegal act.

Saad is a journalist, researcher, and Political Science scholar. His work engages with complex subjects, including Balochistan, Kashmir, and international affairs. He has interviewed recognised public figures such as Former Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar, as well as senior journalists Sohail Warraich and Hamid Mir, and has introduced major international voices to Pakistan’s media space.

More importantly, Saad has worked with state institutions when called upon, contributing to areas aligned with the national interest. He was vetted, cleared, and entrusted by the State. Today, that same individual is being subjected to coercive action by its functionaries.

This contradiction is not incidental but structural.

If individuals who have been vetted and trusted by the state can be subjected to arbitrary detention and retrospective criminalisation, then the question is unavoidable: on what basis does the state expect trust from its citizens?

The actions of certain personnel within CTD constitute a clear overreach of authority. Powers granted for public safety cannot be exercised in violation of constitutional safeguards, including the inviolability of the home and the right to due process. The law does not permit enforced taking into custody followed by procedural reconstruction.

Saad has never engaged with any proscribed material nor been involved in any unlawful activity. His life and work have remained within the bounds of law and intellectual inquiry.

I call upon civil society, the media, and responsible state authorities to take immediate cognisance of this case. Ensure due process. Examine the legality of the initial detention. Hold those responsible accountable. And ensure his safe and immediate release.

This is not just about one individual. It is about law and dignity. It is about giving hope to others who have worked for the state and Pakistan whenever called upon, who have trusted the state against all odds. This youth must be protected and safeguarded within a shrinking demographic that believe in state and that is increasingly disillusioned and disenfranchised.

#ReleaseSaad #RuleofLaw

[Hassan Abdullah Niazi @Hassan_A_Niazi]

Most lawyers in this country like labelling themselves as ‘human rights lawyers’ but dare not take on even a fraction of the cases this couple have. They may not be Asma Jehangir, I doubt they would even claim to be, but they are Imaan and Hadi and that is good enough.

[Azhar Abbas @AzharAbbas3]

It’s getting ridiculous by the day.

[Salahuddin Ahmed @SalAhmedPK]

A few folks varnishing Imaan/Hadi’s grotesque conviction accusing them of crossing “acceptable” lines. Funnily, some cite Asma Jahangir as having done activism “properly”. Here’s Asma saying more inflammatory stuff than all Imaan/Hadi’s tweets combined 1/4
https://t.co/kSGz6VcSJz

[Mian Sami ud-Din @miansamiuddin]

Imaan and Hadi have been convicted for tweets which are rhetorical protest speech, alleging human rights violations and calls for release of detainees.

Nothing wht they said were threats, violence, or support for terrorism.

The conviction is as ridiculous as the whole process.

[Benazir Shah @Benazir_Shah]

Imaan and Hadi defended victims of blasphemy accusations and families of the disappeared, the most vulnerable and silenced people in the country.

By punishing Imaan and Hadi, we have made ourselves far poorer - morally and legally.

[Peter Frankopan @peterfrankopan]

Three hot takes on fast-moving developments
1. if Trump can do this to Maduro, why not Putin to Zelenskyy? Or any world leader to another head of state? Are we are back in the age of piracy?

[Eliav Lieblich @eliavl]

For anyone arguing that Maduro does not have head of state immunity in the US because he is "unrecognized," this July 2025 ruling by the Cour de Cassation, regarding an arrest warrant against Assad when he was still in power, is extremely pertinent - and I think correct.

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

The Nobel "Peace" Prize is an organization that manufactures consent for war.

[Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw]

On President Trump's stated intentions over Venezuelan oil:

"By the time Abraham Lincoln commissioned Francis Lieber to draft a code of laws applicable to the American Civil War, pillage was firmly established as a criminal prohibition in wartime."

2016 essay by @jimgstewart

[Adil Haque @AdHaque110]

"Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law."

[Arifa Noor @arifanoor72]

Irony just died a thousand deaths

[Hassan Abdullah Niazi @Hassan_A_Niazi]

Longstanding theory: All you need to be ‘in’ with the boys is a posh English accent.

[Mian Sami ud-Din @miansamiuddin]

@SalAhmedPK Congratulations!

[Mian Sami ud-Din @miansamiuddin]

...government and military leadership take this as an opportune moment for institutional reform?

8. Don't we need robust safeguards and checks and balances to avoid another Faiz Hamid in future? Or is immunity through constitutional amndmnts the only reform worth considering?

[Mian Sami ud-Din @miansamiuddin]

Building on this, Faiz Hamid's conviction raises more questions than it answers:

1. He has been found guilty largely for political interference and abuse of his position in this regard.

2. On this basis, the public has a right to know the details...

[Reema Omer @reema_omer]

فیض حمید کی سزا پر ISPR کے بیان میں ابہام ہے جو بہت سی قیاس آرائیوں کو جنم دے رہا ہے

سچ عوام تک پہنچنا انصاف کا اہم تقاضا ہے جو اس بیان سے
پورا نہیں ہوتا- چارجز کی کوئی تفصیلات نہیں ہیں اور فیصلہ بھی شایدکبھی public نہ ہو

سزائیں صرف ان لوگوں کے لیے پیغام ہیں جو ادارے کے خلاف جا کر غیر قانونی کام کرتے ہیں - وہ جرائم جو ادارے کی پالیسی کے مطابق ہیں، اُنہیں اؔج بھی استثنیٰ حاصل ہے

[Mian Sami ud-Din @miansamiuddin]

show tht acts of interference are generally supported from within the institution?
These are legitimate questions which should be debated in public.

7. Instead of patting themselves on the back, shouldn't the current...

[Alifya Sohail @AlifyaSohail]

For those wanting to know what Imaan and Hadi are being accused of, this is the FIR lodged by the NCCIA.