• Petitioners’ lawyer maintains case was baseless and fabricated.
• ATC judge approves couple’s bail against surety bonds of Rs10,000 each.
• IHC issues notices to NCCIA over conviction in controversial tweets case.

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court in the federal capital on Thursday granted post-arrest bail to lawyer and activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, in a case related to an alleged scuffle with police.

The couple was arrested by Islamabad police last month for alleged involvement in an altercation outside the Islamabad High Court (IHC). The case was registered at the Secretariat Police Station.

The applications were heard by ATC Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain, who approved Imaan and Chattha’s bail against surety bonds of Rs10,000 each.

During the hearing, counsel Riasat Ali Azad argued on behalf of the petitioners, saying that the case was fabricated and surfaced suddenly. He maintained that the FIR had no grounds and was based on a fictitious incident. Even those nominated were unaware of the case, he added.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the court reserved its verdict and later announced approval of the bail pleas.

It may be noted that the couple will remain behind bars despite the bail, as a district and sessions court in Islamabad also convicted them in a separate case of the controversial tweets last month.

Notices issued in controversial tweets case

In a related development, the IHC issued notices to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) on Imaan and Chattha’s applications against their conviction.

In separate petitions filed in the high court, they had maintained that their convictions were the result of a “patently illegal and arbitrary trial”.

The couple also sought suspension of their sentences and release on bail pending the final decision of the main appeal.

The conviction came just a day after their arrest in the scuffle case last month, when Additional Judge Muhammad Afzal Majoka sentenced the husband and wife to a total of 17 years in prison each under different sections related to controversial social media posts.

According to the 22-page written verdict, Mazari and her husband were sentenced to five years in jail each with a fine of Rs5 million each under section 9 of the Peca; sentenced to 10 years each with a fine Rs30 million each under section 10 of the Peca.

Moreover, the couple was also convicted under section 26-A of the Peca and were sentenced to 2 years each with a fine of Rs1 million each.

The two had been booked by the NCCIA under Sections 9, 10, 11 and 26 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), 2016 and were subsequently indicted on October 30, 2025.

The first information report (FIR) alleges that the couple attempted to incite divisions on linguistic grounds through social media posts. 

Romeo Beckham appeared to hint at how firmly he stands by his parents amid his estranged brother Brooklyn’s feud with the family.

The eldest son of Sir David 51, and Lady Victoria Beckham 50, released a bombshell statement earlier this month in which he criticised his parents, and accused them of mistreating his wife.

He claimed his mum danced ‘inappropriately on’ him at his wedding in 2022.

While much of the Beckham family has maintained a silence since the statement, Romeo appeared to take a dig at his estranged brother, when he appeared in a video with the caption: ‘Imagine hating we are just here like.’

It seemed the model has shared his honest feelings about the feud after reacting to a video from a pop culture influencer on Instagram.

Social media star Ash Cantley shared a video claiming that ‘Victoria and David are trying to rescue their son.’ Romeo has since ‘liked’ the clip, offering a hint at his true reaction to Brooklyn’s feud with his family.

In the video, Ash says: ‘I take it all back. Nicola is the problem. Victoria and David are trying to rescue their son, I think Nicola forced him to make that statement.

‘I saw an interview with Victoria, and she was like ”I’m a girls’ girl, I love girls, that’s why I have the business I have, and you have to be a real a-hole for me not to like you.

‘And I was like ”oh yeah Nicola’s an a**hole.”

Later in the clip, she continued: ‘And then when you look at Nicola’s friends, the amount of people who have dropped her. Selena Gomez? Like your reputation matters, and her reputation is really bad.

‘I saw an interview with David, this was like right after Brooklyn released his statement, and he’s like ”you know, kids make mistakes, and you have to let them make mistakes”, and it was like a very grounded answer.

Detailing Nicola’s relationship with Anwar Hadid, Ash continued: ‘Nicola dated Anwar when he was a teenager, Anwar cut off his family for three years too, so there’s a pattern here that I think we need to look as a whole.

‘I feel bad for Brooklyn, because I do feel like, I do believe he feels these things. I think his wife is pushing him to come out and defend her publicly.’

‘I do think it was a mistake for him to release that public statement because when he and Nicola divorce, if that happens, he’s gonna want his family.

She captioned the post: ‘I go back and forth. Trying this pov out. Also I think David and Victoria should put up with Nicola even if they don’t like her for their son’s sake.’

This week, Brooklyn also unfollowed celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay – a close family friend and Harper’s godfather – after he advised the chef not to ‘forget where he came from’ and suggested his ‘infatuation’ with his actress wife Nicola is behind the ongoing rift. 

Tom Noonan, the actor and director best known for playing some of cinema’s most unsettling villains, has died aged 74.

The death of Tom Noonan was confirmed on social media by longtime friend and collaborator Karen Sillas, as well as filmmaker Fred Dekker, who directed him in The Monster Squad. 

No cause of death has been announced. Noonan died on February 14.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Noonan built a distinctive career defined by his towering presence and ability to bring depth to outsiders and antagonists. 

After early theatre work off Broadway, including appearing in the original production of Sam Shepard’s Buried Child, he began landing film roles in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 

One of his earliest screen appearances was in Heaven’s Gate.

His breakout role came in Manhunter, directed by Michael Mann, where he portrayed serial killer Francis Dollarhyde in the first screen adaptation of Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon. 

The performance earned him lasting recognition and established him as a go-to character actor for complex and disturbing roles.

Noonan went on to embrace cult status with memorable turns as Frankenstein’s Monster in The Monster Squad and as Cain, the drug-fuelled cult leader who becomes the mechanised villain RoboCain in RoboCop 2. 

He also made a strong impression on younger audiences as The Ripper in Last Action Hero.

His long list of film credits included Heat, 12 Monkeys, The House of the Devil, The Pledge and Eight Legged Freaks. 

He later reunited with Mann for Heat and described the director’s work as deeply influential. 

“Terribly sad about Tom Noonan passing,” Mann wrote in a tribute following the news.

Beyond acting, Noonan was a respected playwright and filmmaker. He wrote, directed and starred in What Happened Was…, adapted from his off-Broadway play. 

The film won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1994 and starred Karen Sillas, who called working with Noonan “a turning point in my life as an actor,” adding, “What a privilege, and crazy fun, it was to call him my friend to the end.”

On television, Noonan appeared in series including The X-Files, The Leftovers, Damages and The Blacklist. 

He also collaborated twice with Charlie Kaufman, appearing in Synecdoche, New York and voicing multiple characters in Anomalisa. 

His final big-screen role was in Wonderstruck.

Reflecting on his career, Noonan once said, “I’ve always been a very quiet person, and ironic, and subtle, and a lot of the parts that I get to play are these loudmouth maniacs who have something really wrong with them.”

Fred Dekker remembered him as “the proverbial gentleman and scholar,” adding that his performance in The Monster Squad remained one of the highlights of his career.

Noonan leaves behind a legacy as a singular screen presence, an actor who made villains human, frightening and unforgettable.