Attempts By Prof.Peiris And Dr. Senaratne To Create A Precedent In Favour Of S.B.Dissanayake Questionable!

World Council Of Sinhala Peers For LankaWeb

Somewhat perplexingly though not unsurprisingly, the likes of Prof.G.L.Peiris and Dr.Rajitha Senaratna continue to campaign for the freedom of criminally indicted S.B.Dissanayake on the grounds of freedom of expression. also insisting that The sentence of the Supreme Court does not deprive him of the seat in Parliament and his wages and that the judgement is undemocratic and illegal.
Are they making a statement that ' Freedom Of Expression' permits any individual to make contemptuous and high handed statements in public against the Highest Court in the Land and its adjudicators with impunity or is this a continuation of arrogance the two individuals are now gaining a reputation for in addition to that of the individual in question now behind bars?

How they arrived at this conclusion and what they base their conclusions on seem to add to the questionable nature of their campaign to free Dissanayake despite the section of the Constitution they have quoted perhaps in misinterpretation, as the disentitling of the civic rights of anyone indicted for an offence against the State must take precedence over and above any other interpretation however emotional the rationale might be! The Constitution very clearly states in Section 89 quoted by Peiris and Senaratne that an MP loses his seat in parliament only if he was jailed for an offence punishable by a minimal term of two years . Bearing in mind that the sentence was for 2 years hard labour and involved an automatic loss of his Parliamentary entitlements there seems to be little left towards any argument based on any technicality to the contrary that the decision was correct as are the consequences which are being disputed more on sympathy than legality, to all appearances!

Beaing in mind that these are individuals of assumed high intellect, what seems more perplexing is the manner in which they have attempted to circumvent the reality of the criminal nature of the man indicted not only for contempt of court through his insidious and libellous remarks against the Sri Lankan Judiciary on more than one occassion at public gatherings despite previous official warnings as well as the recent charges of bribery and corruption which are more than likely to be proven given the evidence which appears to be unsurmountable and incriminating.

The words and actions of messers Peiris and Senaratna as expressed are merely tantamount to bifurcated legal jargon of inappropriate perspective and misconstrued legal definition against a decision made by the Highest Court in the land and non appealable to add to their chagrin! It certainly brings the more discerning mind to wonder what their expectations are and whether they have ever paused for a moment to evaluate the futility of their campaign to free their colleague and the extent to which they seem to voluntarily elicit public ridicule upon themselves without considering the consequences of their somewhat irresponsible posturing and rhetoric given their status.

Just recently other criminal charges laid against Mr.S.B.Dissanayaka have been made public for his alleged misappropriation of Samurdhi Funds allocated for rural development and the stark reality of how despised the man is by many Sri Lankans, particularly the poor in his own constituency Hanguranketha. Based on the evidence against him, the animosities of many have even been reflected through the lighting of firecrackers and open jubilation of cheers and celebrations when news of his arrest and indictment was known! It is common knowledge that the man at times resorted to strong armed tactics against people opposed to him and maintained an imposing and intimidatory environment to suit his purpose and means through his aides de camp probably translatable to common thuggery according to the record and even reflected by the actions of his two sons on occassion!

Bearing in mind that the criminal liability of Dissanayake as evaluated by the Highest Court in the land the Supreme Court Judgement was a collective decision of legal wisdom based on incriminating evidence carefully recorded, scrutinized,evaluated and finalised by a panel of the best legal eagles of the land and its highest adjudicator, there seems very little the likes of messers Peiris, Senaratne and any other aspiring would be ursurpers of a major Supreme Court decision such as this could do other than cause cheap sensationalism amongst a vastly skeptical audience and further prejudice the minds of many Sri Lankans who already hold them in disdain and doubt their credibility.
Quoting Dr, Rajitha Senaratne it has been reported that " they were collecting signatures for a public petition calling for a release of Mr. Dissanayake and hope to collect one million signatures. The Maha Sangha including the Mahanayakes of Malwattha Asgiriya and Amarapura Chapters, eminent people including artists University vice chancellors and lectures have already signed the peition," end quote where clarification as well as verification of the accuracy of this statement may be in order due to the apparent innuendo and speculative nature of the statement where the sources quoted are probably more speculative than real and evidence of a more tangible nature than rhetoric probably needed!