When the powerful question justice

Wednesday, 19 October 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

THE election day killing of Presidential Advisor Baratha Lakshman Premachandra has raised many questions of how the Judiciary and the law operate in Sri Lanka. Even with the death of such a high profile person, Premachandra’s family alleges that there are powers that are trying to circumvent justice.

Premachandra’s brother and five sisters at a press conference on Tuesday told media that it was clear certain parties were trying to hush-up the killing and not bring the main offenders to justice. They insist that comments made by certain parties close to the Government including the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) Director General are undermining the path to justice.

MCNS Director General Lakshman Hulugalle was quoted saying that MP Duminda Silva was not a suspect despite the fact that an eyewitness has named him as the one who attacked Premachandra. The question now is whether the small fry will get caught while the big fish get away.

Everyone is waiting to see what Silva’s fate will be after he recovers. Supporters close to him will undoubtedly use every measure they have to clear his name and the challenge is to see if justice will win the day, not just in terms of the letter or the law but in spirit as well. At a time when even the family of such a powerful pro-Government person has to fight for justice, one wonders what hope the common man has.

The Premachandra family reiterated their question as to why the former MP had not been given adequate security – a point that the President’s Office has denied consistently. They also question as to why the members fighting within the party were not brought to book by the party leadership before the situation got so badly out of hand.

They ask why the United People’s Freedom Alliance headed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa could not resolve the infighting as there were plenty of signs of the two factions becoming more violent. It was pointed out that even when supporters were being openly killed, there was nothing done by party leaders to end the bloodshed. Worthy questions, indeed.

At a time when good governance has broken down at every level of Government, it is hard to expect politicians to behave differently. It took the lives of four people, among them a powerful labour leader, to get the attention of the Government. Undoubtedly, if the dead were average people, such a storm of concern would not have arisen, raising serious doubts over the reliability of the Judiciary and Police.

Surely the instruments of law and order cannot be allowed to simply become vassals of powerful members of Government? Yet there has come a time that even the popular and powerful cannot obtain justice. It is surely time for the Government to roll back its sleeves and find effective means to end the gun culture among politicians, which in turn would provide much relief for the population.

A transparent, clear and quick investigation that brings all the offenders – regardless of their status – to book is the only answer to this situation. If the Government disregards something as momentous as this, then it is a clear sign that Sri Lanka’s democracy has surely gotten bleaker.