In The National Interest BASL Should  Be In Forefront Of The Fight For Justice

Hejaaz Hizbullah

By Javid Yusuf –MAY 4, 2020

Javid Yusuf

The arrest and detention of Attorney at Law Hejaaz Hizbullah purportedly in connection with investigations relating to the Easter Sunday bombings of April 21,2019  has had an unexpected fall out with 216 Attorneys at Law writing to the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) urging the BASL to refrain from intervening in the matter of his arrest.

The Lawyers in their letter dated April 29, 2020 (29th Letter) were responding to an earlier letter dated April 24,2020 (24th letter) addressed by 213 Attorneys at Law to the BASL raising concerns with regard to what they described as “the very serious situation surrounding the detention of Mr. Hejaaz Hizbullah.“ They went on to urge the BASL to “ ensure Mr. Hizbullah’s rights are guaranteed and due process is adhered to.”

Nowhere in their 7 page letter (24th letter) did the Attorneys at Law comment on the merits or otherwise of the subject matter of the investigations relating to Hejaaz Hisbullah’s detention but only requested the BASL to ensure that due process is adhered to. Yet  in their 14 page missive of 29th April, the signatories urged the BASL to keep out of the issue  and “allow the law enforcing authorities to conduct a free and fair investigation.”

Although the signatories to the 29th letter cited several arguments in support of their request to the BASL not to intervene, none of these arguments related to how the ensuring of due process of one of their colleagues would jeopardize any investigations that were being conducted by the Police.

Most of the arguments in the 29th Letter relate to the importance of National Security and statements by the Police relating to the investigations. In fact  the contents  of what the Police spokesman stated at a media Conference  have been elevated to “common public  Knowledge” of evidence of Hejaaz Hizbullah’s “involvement in extremist or extremist related activities.”  

Clearly what the Police spokesman stated was a mere statement of the Police position with regard to the investigations and is always subject to scrutiny and review by the Courts. To go to the extent of attributing to this Police position the status of “common knowledge “ is clearly unfair by Hejaaz Hizbullah. It is as bad as referring to him as “one  Hejaaz Hisbullah” in the 29th letter despite him being sufficiently well known among the legal fraternity in Hulftsdorf.

The Attorneys at Law who wrote to the BASL by their letter of April 24th limited themselves to a request for the BASL to ensure due process and to ensure that his rights are safeguarded in the process of investigation. The rights that the letter referred to are the very rights that any lawyer would urge for his client in any court of law and does not in any way impinge on the guilt or otherwise of the offence with he is charged. These are rights that are universally accepted to protect individuals and to ensure they obtain a fair and independent investigation and trial.

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