Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ordered for prison authorities to permit lawyers access to jailed Muslim poet, Ahnaf Jazeem, who remains detained at Colombo Remand Prison under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Jazeem was detained by Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Investigation Department for allegedly “promoting extremism and violence” to children. Numerous human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, have called for an immediate release of the poet, who has been detained for over 400 days.
The Supreme Court’s ruling follows a Fundamental Rights petition filed against Jazeem’s arrest and detention. Sri Lanka’s Attorney General has reportedly already filed limited objections against this petition. The ruling was made by a three-judge bench comprising Justice Murdu Fernando, Justice Yasantha Kodagoda and Justice Shiran Goonaratne.
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