Eleven intn’l organizations call on Govt to release Hejaaz Hizbullah and others denied due process

At least eleven organisations expressed deep concern for the ongoing detention of lawyer and minority and civic rights activist Hejaaz Hizbullah, who has been held under the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for 15 months.

In the absence of any credible evidence presented before a court of law, Hejaaz Hizbullah should be released immediately and unconditionally, according to a collective statement issued by the organizations.

"The indictment is based on a statement to the Criminal Investigation Department of the police made by a child regarding a speech allegedly made by  Hizbullah in Puttalam. Other children who were questioned at the same time by the same officers filed fundamental rights cases claiming they were coerced by police officers to falsely implicate Hejaaz  Hizbullah. Combined with the repeated changes in the allegations, this leads us to believe the allegations against him are unsupported by any credible evidence," th statement said.

"Hejaaz Hizbullah is a vocal critic of the government. He is a minority rights advocate in a climate increasingly hostile to Sri Lanka’s religious and ethnic minorities. He is also one of the lawyers who challenged the dissolution of the parliament in 2018 in the Sri Lankan Supreme Court. Since the Sri  Lankan authorities have so far been unable to show any evidence of wrongdoing, it appears he is being targeted solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression. We call for Hejaaz Hizbullah’s  immediate release and for the charges against him to be dropped."

The eleven signatories on the collective statement are Amnesty International, Article 19, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Front Line Defenders, Human Rights Watch, International Bar Association’s Human Rights Initiative, International Commission of Jurists, International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR), International Working Group on Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka Campaign for Truth and Justice.