On 23 September, Lawyers for Lawyers sent a public letter to the recently appointed Attorney General in Sri Lanka, expressing concerns about the ongoing trial against lawyer and human rights defender Hejaaz Hizbullah, a minority rights advocate and legal counsel for many Muslim victims of human rights violations.
On 14 April 2020, Mr. Hizbullah was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He was kept in pretrial detention from the date of his arrest until 9 February 2022, amounting to a total of 22 months in jail. Still, the charges against Mr. Hizbullah have not been dropped and thus continue to interfere with his legitimate work. This means that he has been subject of ongoing prosecution for over 4 years.
To this date the proceedings have been marked by irregularities and the prosecution has consistently failed to present credible and convincing evidence. No reasons for the arrest were provided to Mr. Hizbullah or his family at the time of the arrest, and all witness statements were recorded at least six days after. These witness statements are marked by contradictions, inaccuracies, and material omissions. Furthermore, during the hearings in 2023, one of the two witnesses on whom the prosecution has built its case against Mr. Hizbullah, admitted in court to making false statements.
In the letter, Lawyers for Lawyers respectfully urges the Attorney General to:
- Drop all charges against Mr. Hizbullah and put an end to all acts of harassment against him, including at the judicial level;
- Ensure that Mr. Hizbullah is afforded all the elements of a fair trial under international law; and
- Guarantee under all circumstances that all lawyers in Sri Lanka, including Mr. Hizbullah, are able to carry out their legitimate professional activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment, in accordance with the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.
Read the full letter here
