The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has determined that the fundamental rights of political commentator Ramzi Raziq have been violated following his arrest by officials of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) during the tenure of the government led by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Taking up for consideration the case filed against Ramzi Raziq, the Supreme Court ruled that his fundamental rights had been infringed and ordered the State to pay a compensation of Rs. 1 million.
The Supreme Court’s judgment further holds that section 3 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act should not be understood as criminalising blasphemy.
The judgment also contains crucial observations on the scope and application of section 3 of the ICCPR Act and endorses the guidelines issued by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) on section 3, while it also orders that state institutions must comply with this judgment when applying section 3 in the future.
Political commentator Ramzi Raziq was arrested by the CID in April 2020 and was charged under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) No. 56 of 2007 for a comment he made on social media.
He was imprisoned for five months without any charges. Ramzi Raziq claims his social media post had been misinterpreted by the CID leading to his arrest.
However, in September this year, he was acquitted in the absence of any evidence by the Aluthkade Magistrate’s Court and was ordered to be released from the case. (NewsWire)
