Nishka Srinivas Veluvali
Published On: February 08, 2022 at 18:38 IST
On 7th February, 2022, the Court in Sri Lanka awarded Bail to the Human Rights Lawyer and Activist Hejaaz Hizbullah, who was taken into Custody as per the Draconian Law for Alleged connections with 2019 Easter Bombings.
The bomb blast was executed by nine suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat linked with ISIS, which had impacted three Catholic churches and several luxury hotels in Sri Lanka.
Hejaaz was Arrested by the Sri Lankan Police as per the Prevention Terrorism Act (PTA) on April 14, 2020 for his reported participation in the Easter Suicide Bombings. He was Arrested without being charged.
The Court of Appeal had considered his Appeal as the Court in North Western town of Puttalam had Quashed his Bail Plea.
The Rights Activist stated that this Bail Order holds significance as Sri Lanka is planning to participate in the European Union (EU) sub committee on Tuesday with reference to Human Rights.
Sri Lanka has been facing stress from the EU for their controversial PTA Act which allows detention upto 90 days without being charged with provisions for further prolongment of the time.
The EU Parliament in the previous year had demanded to revoke the PTA following which the Cabinet of Sri Lanka had approved some Amendments to the Terrorism Law.
The Amendments ensures that the Suspects are permitted to move to the Supreme Court on the basis of violation of their Fundamental Rights.
Hejaaz’s detention received heavy criticism by the Geneva – based International Commission of Jurists, the EU and the United Nations Human Rights Group.
In the June, last year 11 International groups headed by Amnesty International demanded for immediate and instant release of Hejaaz.
The Groups stated that the charged against Hejaaz have been changed several times and his detention is been extended for almost 15 months.