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Hejaaz urges Sallay to fight case if innocent | Daily FT

Ft · 🇱🇰 public Sri Lanka · · 243 words
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What to know about Hejaaz urges Sallay to fight case if innocent

Thursday Jul 23, 2026 Tuesday, 9 June 2026 04:45 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} Senior lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah, who spent 22 months in detention without bail under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), yesterday commented on reports that former State…

Claims checked 5
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center83%
Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Thursday Jul 23, 2026 Tuesday, 9 June 2026 04:45 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} Senior lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah, who spent 22 months in detention without bail under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), yesterday commented on reports that former State…

Why it matters

In a post on X, Hizbullah drew parallels with his own experience in detention and said those accused should focus on pursuing their legal defence.

Common ground

“If he is innocent, Salley must stay strong and fight his case,” Hizbullah said.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.ft.lk/news/Hejaaz-urges-Sallay-to-fight-case-if-innocent/56-793081

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 5 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4
info Single Source 1
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Claim 1: “former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director Major General (Retd.) Suresh Sallay had commenced a hunger strike”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent news sources (The Sunday Times, Asian Mirror, and another news report) confirm that Major General (Retd.) Suresh Sallay commenced a hunger strike while in custody.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas colle…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MI6
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS; Māori: Te Pā Whakamarumaru) is New Zealand's primary national intelligence agency. It is responsible for providing information and advising on mat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Security_Intellige…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The State Intelligence Service (SIS) is an intelligence agency of the Sri Lankan government. It is the primary civilian intelligence agency of Sri Lanka and is responsible for both internal and extern…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Intelligence_Service_(Sr…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 2: “Senior lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah, who spent 22 months in detention without bail under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web sources (Daily FT, Groundviews, and a human rights report) explicitly state that Hejaaz Hizbullah spent 22 months in detention without bail under the PTA.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following lists notable events that took place during the year 2022 in Sri Lanka.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_in_Sri_Lanka
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web search NEUTRAL — On 9 February 2022, human rights lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah was released on bail by the Puttalam High Court. Hejaaz Hizbullah has been in prison for 22 months charged under the 1979 Prevention of Terrori…
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/human-rights-defe…
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web search NEUTRAL — Senior lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah, who spent 22 months in detention without bail under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), yesterday commented on reports that former State Intelligence Service (SIS) D…
https://www.ft.lk/news/Hejaaz-urges-Sallay-to-fight-case-if-…
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 3: “Hizbullah was arrested under the PTA in April 2020”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web sources specifically date the arrest of Hejaaz Hizbullah under the PTA to April 14, 2020.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following lists notable events that took place during the year 2022 in Sri Lanka.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_in_Sri_Lanka
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web search NEUTRAL — On 14 April 2020, Mr. Hizbullah was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He was kept in pretrial ...
https://www.lawyersforlawyers.org/ongoing-trial-of-hejaaz-hi…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jul 15, 2020 ... No credible evidence has surfaced to establish any link between Hejaaz and the 21 April 2019 bombings. According to his family, all that the ...
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/07/sri-lanka-on-…
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 4: “Sallay had been aware of the conditions under which PTA detainees were held during his tenure in the intelligence service”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of search results for actors named Suresh, which are irrelevant. There is no evidence in the provided text confirming Sallay's specific awareness of PTA conditions during his tenure.
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web search NEUTRAL — Suresh played the role of a lover in many films and produced four films and seven television serials before taking a hiatus in the 1990s. During the period he enhanced his career in Telugu cinema.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suresh_(actor,_born_1963)
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web search NEUTRAL — Suresh (born as Naseem Ahmed; 13 November 1928 – 14 July 1979), also known as N. A. Suresh, was an Indian actor in Bollywood, who was born in Gurdaspur, Punjab, India.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suresh_(Hindi_actor)
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web search NEUTRAL — 1M Followers, 33 Following, 4,033 Posts - Lodhi Suraj Ramnath (@actor_suresh_surpura) on Instagram: "🎭 SURESH ACTOR 🎭"
https://www.instagram.com/actor_suresh_surpura/
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Claim 5: “remained in detention for nearly two years before being released on bail”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm he was detained for nearly two years (specifically citing 21-22 months) before being released on bail in February 2022.
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web search NEUTRAL — On 7 February 2022, Hejaaz Hizbullah was granted bail by the Court of Appeal after almost two years of pre-trial detention under Sri Lanka's Prevention of ...
https://www.lawyersforlawyers.org/hejaaz-hizbullah-released-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Feb 10, 2022 ... On 7 February 2022, after more than 21 months in detention, the Colombo Court of Appeal granted bail to Hejaaz Hizbullah.
https://srilankacampaign.org/campaign-update-hejaaz-hizbulla…
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web search NEUTRAL — Feb 7, 2022 ... Hizbullah was arrested in April 2020, accused of being linked to the attacks on churches, hotels that killed 279 people.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/7/sri-lanka-to-free-la…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.