Being An ‘Arab' In Sri Lanka

Hejaaz Hizbullah’s wife Maram Khalifa speaks of ordeal

- Gihan de Chickera

Over a year has passed since Sri Lankan human rights and constitutional lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah was controversially arrested and detained on April 14, 2020 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks that claimed 269 lives and injured many more.

Since the arrest, local and international lawyers and activists have pointed out that his detention by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was unlawful and undermined due process. They also highlighted that Hizbullah is being targeted for his work as a constitutional lawyer and his advocacy on behalf of Muslims in Sri Lanka.

Despite the outcry, Hizbullah continued to be detained and questioned for eleven months. During this time he was denied proper access to his lawyers and family, and was reportedly kept in a cell approximately 6ft long, 3ft wide and 7ft high. After over ten months in detention—on February 18, 2021—Hizbullah was finally produced before a judge. “These are 100% utterly baseless and unjust allegations. We will 100% win this case,” Hizbullah declared to media personnel gathered outside the court on that day. Eleven months after his arrest—on March 12, 2021—a case was ultimately filed against him at the Puttalam High Court under the PTA and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act. The charges were that he had incited communal disharmony—a far cry from the initial claims of him being a terrorist and extremist theoretician.

In light of these events, Daily Mirror spoke to Hizbullah’s wife Maram Khalifa—an Egyptian national and counsellor by profession—to get her side of the story.

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