Muslim poet Ahnaf Jazeem has requested the government to de-list him from the ‘Designated Persons’ list issued by the Ministry of Defence.

His lawyer, Attorney Sanjaya Wilson Jayasekera said “He has sent his Application to the Competent Authority (CA) requesting to de-list him from the list of 'Designated Persons'. This list includes persons who the government believes or suspects to be involved in terrorist activities.”

Jazeem has also filed a complaint at the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka against listing him as a designated person, naming the members of the CA and the FM as Respondents.

He was arrested by the TID on accusations of promoting Islamic extremism through his work and held under the PTA for 18 months before being released on bail in December 2021. According to bail conditions he has to report to the Puttalam police on the first and last Sunday of every month. One of his bank accounts has also been frozen by the authorities. The court also ordered the Immigration Department not to issue a passport to Jazeem and that he provide an affidavit that he does not already possess a passport.

His supporters say Jazeem is not an extremist and his poems were incorrectly translated and in fact speaks of religious harmony instead.