An Australian professor is appealing to the United Nations after the Sri Lankan government released a report alleging he was involved in the deadly Easter Sunday terror bombings in 2019.
In February, a Sri Lankan government inquiry finalised its report into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, a series of suicide bombings that killed more than 250 people in Colombo.
The Sri Lankan government report, which hasn’t been released publicly but has been seen by SBS News, accused Professor Thalib of facilitating the travel of members of terrorist groups to Syria for arms training.
Professor Thalib, an Australian citizen, has strongly denied any connection to terrorist activity, and has threatened to sue the Sri Lankan government for defaming him.
He’s now also urging the United Nations to intervene, with his lawyers recently making an application under the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“In the application, it was stated that unjust and unlawful attacks were made against Prof Thalib's honour, reputation and presumption of innocence, and that Prof Thalib was subjected to serious human rights violations,” a statement from Professor Thalib's lawyers reads.
“[He] was in imminent danger due to the recent actions and unfounded allegations by the Government of Sri Lanka and state-controlled media outlets against him.”
Naila Ahmed, a casework manager for prisoner advocacy group CAGE, said Professor Thalib had not been offered an opportunity to reject the allegations prior to them being "unethically leaked to the press" and published in the Sri Lankan government report.
"This flies in the face of any semblance of due process and is a flagrant violation of the right to a fair hearing," she said in a statement.
"We call on the UN Human Rights council to act robustly to end Sri Lanka’s defamation of Professor Thalib.”
Professor Thalib says he is a victim of a media and political campaign in Sri Lanka, which has significantly affected his personal life and health.
He said the application to the UN was among a number of avenues he was taking to clear his name.
Professor's Qatar prison hell
Professor Thalib made headlines in July last year when he was arrested at home in Qatar and imprisoned without charge for almost six months.
He was detained alongside his son Ismail Talib. The pair were released without warning in January this year.
There is no suggestion his arrest in Qatar was linked to the Sri Lankan government's report.
Professor Thalib has previously said both he and his son faced “severe torture” in prison, including being prevented from sleeping for days and long periods of isolation.
Over the almost six months he lost more than 25 kilos, he said, and suffered extreme anxiety.
“I began to lose trust in everything and everyone. At times, I thought I lost my mind. I was prepared to do anything to get out,” he said.
“I have been through so much excruciating pain that it continues to scar me till this day.”
No reason has even been given for the arrest of Professor Thalib and his son, and neither were formally charged by Qatari authorities. His family believe it was politically motivated.
