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Bail sought for Hizbullah, Shakeel

11 Oct 2021

  • Unprecedented move under PTA
BY Pamodi Waravita Legal counsel for detained lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah made an application for bail for their client at the Puttalam High Court (HC) on 8 October, despite the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 48 of 1979 as amended (PTA) not permitting the grant of bail. “Counsels for both Hizbullah and former Principal of Al Zuhriya Arabic School Mohamed Shakeel made an application for bail, arguing on the basis of decided authorities that even though the PTA does not permit bail, the constitutional guarantee of liberty requires the court to give its mind to any order of remand. The State objected to bail on the basis that the court has no jurisdiction under the PTA to grant bail. This was the only reason adduced by the State,” an electronic mail statement by the Justice for Hejaaz campaign noted yesterday (11). Thus, the court is due to deliver its order concerning bail on 27 October. Hizbullah, who was arrested in April last year, was presented in court on charges filed under Section 2 (1) (h) of the PTA (“by words either spoken or intended to be read or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise causes or intends to cause commission of acts of violence or religious, racial, or communal disharmony or feelings of ill will or hostility between different communities or racial or religious groups) and Section 3 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil And Political Rights (ICCPR) Act as amended (“No person shall propagate war or advocate national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence”). Meanwhile, Shakeel was arrested this year by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) under the PTA. UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor stated earlier this year that they believe that Hizbullah’s work on human rights has been wrongly conflated with terrorism.


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