30 March 2021 12:07 am
An Australian professor is to sue the authorities in Sri Lanka afterhe was linked to the Easter Sunday attacks.
In an email to the Daily Mirror, an independent advocacy organisation said that Professor Lukman Thalib has instructed lawyers to begin defamation proceedings against the Sri Lankan authorities for false allegations made against him.
Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara had told Parliament recently that Lukman Thalib and his son Lukman Thalib Ahmed had facilitated the mastermind of the Easter Sunday attacks, Zaharan Hashim to meet four religious extremists in the Maldives.
CAGE, a UK based, independent advocacy organization told Daily Mirror that Lukman Thalib and his son were shocked to read they had been linked to the Easter Sunday attacks of 2019.
“Recent discussions on the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka which brought my name into public disrepute out of the blue, have shocked me and my family. I have had no contact from Sri lankan authorities - they’ve not questioned me about any allegations. Instead I read about them in the press, which is a violation of my due process rights. It is absolutely reprehensible and disgusts me to my very core. I have spent all my life, as a Professor of Public Health and a scientific researcher, working for the protection and preservation of human life,” Lukman Thalib said in the email.
He said that he has instructed his lawyers to take legal action against the government of Sri Lanka for these defamatory allegations.
Naila Ahmed, CAGE Casework Manager said that their client, Professor Lukman, has not been offered any opportunity to reject the allegations prior to them being unethically leaked to the press.