A complaint has been filed with the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) regarding the arrest by the Police of Mohamed Abdul Cader Mohamed Azeem, the brother-in-law of the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 2019, Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zahran alias Zahran Hashim, and the former’s wife Mohamed Ziham Fathima, allegedly without a proper charge.
Azeem and Fathima were arrested by the Kochchikade Police on 9 April and subsequently remanded by the Negombo Magistrate’s Court.
According to a family member, Azeem was recently released after serving several years in prison in connection with the Easter Sunday terror attacks. The couple has travelled from Narammala to Fathima’s mother’s home in Kochchikade, Negombo. He stated that they (Azeem and Fathima) usually visit that house once a month, stay for a few days, and then leave.
“Around 12.30 a.m. (00:30 hours), the Kochchikade Police arrived and told them that it was not safe for them to stay in that house.” The police had summoned them to the police station. They had then consulted a lawyer and gone to the Police Station, despite the fact that they had done nothing wrong. The Police had told them in the morning that they could go home after being formally produced before the Court. “However, the Police had reported to the Court that it was suspicious that they had come to Negombo on Easter Sunday (which fell on 9 April) for some suspicious activity,” he claimed.
According to the B report submitted by the Police to the Court regarding the two suspects, the house where the two suspects were staying was searched on 9 April based on information provided by two officers of the Police Special Investigation Unit (SIU). During the interrogation, it was also revealed that the male suspect is Zahran’s brother-in-law and that he was imprisoned for three years in connection with the Easter Sunday terror attacks. According to the B report, the suspects were apprehended on suspicion of planning a disruptive or destructive act in connection with Easter Sunday services at local churches.
It goes on to say that the Criminal Investigations Department, the Terrorism Investigation Division, the SIU, and the Intelligence agencies were all called and asked if the two suspects were wanted for any crime and if they had any pending cases against them. As a result, the Police have requested that they be remanded in custody until the investigations into them are completed and reported to the Court on April 20. Taking that request into account, the Negombo Acting Magistrate ordered the suspects’ remand until the relevant case is recalled on April 20. The Court also ordered the prison authorities to provide the pregnant female suspect with the necessary medical care.
According to the relatives, a complaint has been filed with the HRCSL regarding the duo’s arrest for no apparent reason. He also stated that the two suspects came to Negombo solely to sell a stock of maize they had grown and to spend a few days at the female arrestee’s mother’s house.
Attempts to reach Police Media Spokesman, Senior Superintendent of Police, and Attorney-at-Law Nihal Thalduwa were unsuccessful.
On April 21, 2019, a suicide bomber targeted St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade.