By Saman Indrajith  

Attorney-at-Law Hejaaz Hizbullah, had been denied justice for nine months and he had tested positive for COVID-19, Chief Opposition Whip Kandy District MP Lakshman Kiriella told Parliament on Thursday.

“If the government has any evidence then it should charge any person including Hizbullah. If he had been involved in anything at all they could have charged him with that. He is being detained without charges,”

 Hizbullah has been in the custody of the CID following his arrest in April, 2020.

 He was arrested for allegedly maintaining contacts with a suicide bomber involved in the 2019 Easter Sunday Terror attacks.

 “When I asked the Minister of Public Security, he said that there was evidence and presented a list of them. There is no point in reading out the list in Parliament. The due process is that they should be presented in Court. Either the government should do so, or release the suspect.”

 Last Thursday, Chief Opposition Whip Kiriella with permission from the Chair, asked the government to release Hizbullah. “Hizbullah has been a brilliant young lawyer at Hulftsdorp. The government is keeping him without filing charges. You can release him on bail.”

 Minister of Public Security Rear Admiral (Retd) Sarath Weerasekara said that Hejaaz Hizbullah had been accused of many wrongdoings in connection with the Easter Sunday Attacks. “We have information that he has spoken thrice to suicide cadres who blew themselves up during the Easter Sunday carnage. He is married to an Egyptian woman who has links with another terrorist organisation. He has managed an institute by the name of Pearl of Unity, where lectures were conducted by Zahran. That institute received funds from an organisation called Qatar Charity, which has been banned by the UN as a terrorist organisation. These are only some of the reasons why he is being held. Investigations are still in progress. I request you not to speak on behalf of a suspect such as Hizbullah.”

 MP Kiriella said that charges should be presented in Court and not in Parliament.

 Minister Weerasekera: That is the sole purpose of investigating. The investigations are being conducted to find evidence to produce him in Court.