Muslim human rights lawyer, Hejaaz Hizbullah has finally been granted bail by the Court of Appeal after being detained for over 20 months and initially denied bail by Puttalam High Court.
He was initially detained by the Criminal Investigation Department on 14 April 2020 under Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act under dubious allegations that he aided the Easter Sunday attack. These charges later changed to allegations that he had promoted racial hatred. Hizbullah has spent 10 months in custody before being charged.
In explaining why Hizbullah was denied bail, the judge at Puttalam High Court claimed that it was not under her jurisdiction despite the Attorney General giving consent for him to be granted bail on 20th January.
The granting of bail follows a briefing by Sri Lanka’s foreign minister in which he claimed that Sri Lanka had made progress on human rights and noted Hizbullah’s being granted bail as evidence.
The minister further alleged that the government was committed to reforming the PTA however this claim has come under criticism with the government expanding the provisions in March under the veil of “deradicalization”.
Read more here: 'PTA reform: A farce in multiple acts'
Read more here: ‘Grossly inadequate’ – CPA calls for immediate moratorium on PTA
Last June, the EU parliament passed a resolution condemning the regression of human rights in Sri Lanka and noting the government’s failure to repeal the PTA as it had previously committed to. The resolution called on the European Council to investigate and prosecute war crime abuses; to suspend funding for the training of Sri Lanka’s security forces; and to suspend the favourable trading preferences granted by the GSP+ agreement.
The briefing by Sri Lanka’s foreign minister comes in advance of the upcoming 49th Session of the Human Rights Council, which will commence in the last week of February. Tamils have demanded a full repeal of the draconian PTA.