{"id":115693,"date":"2021-07-01T16:06:41","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T23:06:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=115693"},"modified":"2021-07-01T16:06:41","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T23:06:41","slug":"wrong-verdict-rectified-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/07\/01\/wrong-verdict-rectified-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Wrong verdict rectified – Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – ,MATARA<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

One of the sectors that came under severe politicization under\nSirisena\/Ranil government was the Law and Order sector.  An illegal unit called FCID, branded by the\nopposition politicians as Ranil\u2019s Gestapo, carried out a witch hunt for\nopposition politicians, their spouses, children, relatives, supporters and even\nagainst some Buddhist monks.  The Bribery\nCommission existed only by name and no action was taken on complaints against\ngovernment Ministers, MPs and government supporters.  Karu \nJayasuriya acted as a despot in the parliament having got bloated by the\nignominious 19th<\/sup> amendment. \nDeputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake became a superman completely\ncontrolling the judiciary intimidating judges, deciding on promotions to\njudges, concocting false evidence against innocent people together with certain\nCID officials and instructing and forcing the judges to deliver the verdict of\ncourt cases as they directed. The Duminda Silva case a clear example of how\nthey manipulated the verdict of this case.     \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Poson Day  Pardon given by\nthe President to the former MP Duminda Silva who was serving a death sentence\ncontinues to\u2019 draw many applause and criticism. \nThe Opposition Politicians endeavor to project this clemency as the\nfirst instance of such compassion shown to a convicted prisoner. In Sri Lanka,\nthe last execution of a prisoner convicted with capital punishment had been\ncarried out on 23rd<\/sup> June, 1976 and thereafter the death sentences\nhave been commuted to life imprisonment. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former MP Dulminda\nSilva\u2019s pardon by the President was not the first instance of a presidential\npardon. .Tthe first such pardon to raise concern was the one offered to Sunil\nPerera, better known as \u2018Gonawela Sunil\u2019 who was serving a sentence for rape.\nPerera, who had close links with the United National Party (UNP) was granted a\npardon by then President J. R. Jayewardene. Not only he was given a\npresidential pardon but subsequently he was appointed as an all-island JP,  The move was widely criticized by opposition\ngroups at the time. Perera was later assassinated by unknown gunmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President\nPremadasa pardoned Manohari Daniels, who was convicted of aiding and abetting\nthe LTTE to carry out a bomb attack opposite Zahira College, Maradana in 1987\nthat killed forty innocent persons. Daniels was pardoned at a time when the\nPremadasa government was having \u2018peace talks\u2019 with the LTTE, as a gesture of\ngoodwill in what was a bid to ensure the talks succeeded<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Mahinda\nRajapaksa has had his share of granting presidential pardons, which included\nclemency granted to Mr. S. B. Dissanayake, who had been jailed for contempt of\nthe Supreme Court to two years rigorous imprisonment by a five-Judge bench of\nthe Supreme Court, pardoning of Mary Juliet Monica Fernando, the wife of then\nPublic Estate Management and Development Minister Milroy Fernando in March\n2009. Mrs. Fernando had been sentenced to death for a double murder in\nKatuneriya in January 1992 and in 2012,  granting a pardon to Sarath Fonseka who was\nserving a three-year prison sentence on various charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Sirisena pardoned Venerable Gnanasara Thera and\nlater made him as an official delegate in in his visit to Japan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pardoning Duminda\nSilva was not the first such clemency given by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. In\nMarch 2020, within months of coming to power, the President pardoned soldier\nSunil Ratnayake who had been sentenced to death for killing eight Tamil\ncivilians, including a five-year-old and two teenagers, in the village of\nMirusuvil in northern Jaffna region in 2000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was one of the\nfew convictions from the terrorist war era, and the UN said the pardon was\n“an affront to victims\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duminda Silva was\nfound guilty with four others of shooting dead Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra\nand three of his supporters during local elections in Colombo in 2011. The two\nmen were both members of the then governing party. The verdict was later upheld\nby the country’s Supreme Court in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina B\nTeplitz, who extensively interferes illegally in the internal affairs of this\ncountry has said that Presidential pardon of Duminda Silva was undermining Sri\nLanka\u2019s rule of law. She has tweetedThe Pardon of Duminda Silva, whose\nconviction the Supreme Court upheld in 2018, undermines rule of law\u201d. However, she has welcomed\nthe early release of prisoners held under the Prevention of Terrorism\nAct.”We welcome the early release of PTA prisoners,\u201d she has said.  This message is a clear evidence of this\nprejudiced woman\u2019s attitudes to undermine Sri Lanka whenever and wherever\npossible and her bias towards Tamil separatists. Based on her tweeted message\nthe UN and the BBC have also adopted the same position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A letter with the\nsignatures of a majority of Members of Parliament had been submitted to President\nGotabaya Rajapaksa and 115 parliamentarians, including members representing the\nSamagi Jana Balavegaya had signed it. Organizations supporting the Government\nand the Maha Sangha, holding Media briefings and protests, demanded that\nDuminda Silva be released. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people were\nof the belief that as soon as the present Government came to power Duminda\nwould be released. Duminda Silva\u2019s father Arumaadura Vincent Premalal de Silva,\nin a complaint submitted to the Commission, appointed on 9 January 2020, by\nPresident Gotabaya Rajapaksa to investigate political victimization, had\nrequested that a verdict be issued that sentencing Duminda to death was done\nmerely to extract political revenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequent to\nhearing the Complaint, Number 1969-2020, of Duminda\u2019s father Premalal de Silva,\nthe Presidential Commission Investigating Political Victimization issued a\ndecision saying that Duminda Silva should be exonerated and released. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complaint filed by Duminda\u2019s father\nis as follows: Complaint No.: 1969-2020 Plaintiff: Arumaadura Vincent Premalal\nde Silva Address: No. 40, Perera Mawatha, Pelawatte, Battaramulla The following\nindividuals who subjected the victim to political revenge are named as\nrespondents by the Plaintiff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Ranjan Ramanayake<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Padmini Ranawaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 3. Shani Abeysekera <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verdict<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Subsequent to analysing the evidence submitted\nin this case, the Commission has decided unanimously that the abovementioned\npersons have acted with knowledge to sentence Arumaadura Laurence Duminda Silva\nto imprisonment and to death, creating false evidence to ensure that he was\nfound guilty of an offence of false murder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Therefore, in\nthe Case No. H.C. 7781\/15 filed at the Colombo High Court against Arumaadura\nLaurence Duminda Silva the Commission unanimously decided that he should be\nexonerated from all accusations mentioned in the charge sheet and\nreleased. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. However, when\nArumaadura Laurence Duminda Silva was found guilty of the offences stated in\nthe charge sheet in case No. H.C. 8331\/16 filed at the Colombo High Court and\nsentenced to prison and death, which was approved by the Supreme Court, by not\npresenting for consideration to the High Court and the Supreme Court the new\nevidence submitted to the Commission, a miscarriage of justice has taken place\nand as a result a unanimous decision was taken by the Commission that the\nverdict that was delivered that Defendant Duminda Silva was guilty, be referred\nto the Supreme Court by the Attorney General for an extensive judicial\nreview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the\nrecommendations of the three-member Commission, comprising Judges Upali\nAbeyratne, Chandra Fernando and Bandu Jayatilleke were submitted to the\nPresident, as he has the statutory responsibility of taking further\naction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, the\ndecision taken by the President to release Duminda Silva cannot be argued as\nbeing against the natural course of justice. Now the decision given by the\nCommission on Political Victimization has been set aside and everything has\ntaken place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The verdict of\nthe High Court has been confirmed by the Supreme Court. Therefore, it can be\nconcluded that Duminda Silva should be sent to the gallows and his files closed\nif a case hearing that was universally justified was held, the law would have\nbeen in agreement. However, what did happen in this hearing? The deity of the law\nhas landed in the hands of dissolute, salacious persons. Everything was\nrevealed subsequent to the case hearing through voice-tapes of Ranjan, Shani\nand Padmini coming to light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It was not\nonly one or two tapes, but several came out one after the other. What was made\nclear was the fact that in the history of the judiciary of this country there\nhad been no lineup around the Judge\u2019s seat ever before. Such an incident which\nkicked the law and justice at once had not taken place previously. The facts\nthat were revealed through the voice-tapes were disgusting and offensive. We\nstate that the verdict in Duminda\u2019s case was a by-product of a fraud and\nconspiracy, not considering it as a mere political matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It is\nbecause in this case the law was out of bounds from the very beginning. Now,\neverything has happened. Therefore, can the files that state that Duminda Silva\nbe sent to the gallows be closed? Is there room for such a thing within the law\nand right of justification? None. Not at all. This is not the first instance\nthat such a thing has taken place in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 There are\nexamples in recent history where such incorrect verdicts were corrected. There\nis a similar special verdict in the British Court. In the case, Lazarus estate\nlimited Vs Beasley (56QB702) Lord Denning had declared as follows: No Court in\nthis land will allow a person to keep an advantage which he has obtained by\nfraud. No judgment of a Court, no order of a Minister, can be allowed to stand\nif it has been obtained by fraud. Fraud unravels everything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court is\ncareful not to find fraud unless it is distinctly pleaded and proved; but once\nit is proved, it vitiates judgments, contracts and all transactions\nwhatsoever\u2026\u201d Lord Denning\u2019s statement is very compatible with Clause 44 of Sri\nLanka\u2019s Evidence Ordinance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accordingly, if\nit is proved that a case verdict issued by a Court has been obtained\nfraudulently that verdict is vacated. An instance is found from a British Court\nwhen a Court verdict which was obtained fraudulently was revealed after 13\nyears and it was vacated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bharatha\nLakshman murder case verdict has been confirmed based on a collective of\ndetails beyond reasonable doubt that a death sentence was imposed upon a\nnon-guilty person through a \u2018Kekille\u2019 verdict. If that is so, what should be\ndone? Can a reasonable law-abiding society be silent saying, \u2018Oh dear see what\nhappened!\u2019 Should society remain silent, allowing a few persons to handle,\naccording to their discretion, the system of law to define as a person, who had\nabsolutely no intention or need of murdering anyone, a murderer? If so, there\nis no need to delay by even another day the release of Duminda Silva who is\nimprisoned and suffering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, it is\ncorrect to define granting total freedom to Duminda Silva as protecting the\nchoice of the legal system in this country and its honour. Releasing Duminda is\nfulfilling justice for him as well as protecting trust and honour of the\nHonourable Judiciary. There is no need for Sri Lanka to go down in history as a\nnation without justice. The wrong that was done should be corrected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duminda Silva\nshould be freed. When lining up these facts, one by one, according to Clause 34\nof the Constitution, awarding a pardon to Duminda Silva based on the authority\nthe President possesses, is correct. The judicial tradition in a responsible\nCourt verdict, where a death sentence is confirmed, is that each Judge notes\ndown his or her decision and writes detailed reasons for arriving at the said\nverdict and signing it. However, this had not been done in the Bharatha\nLakshman murder case. The leader of the three-member Bench, Judge Shiran\nGunaratne, in his verdict, has stated that Duminda Silva is not guilty of the\nmurder of Bharatha Lakshman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Padmini\nRanawaka Gunatillaka has stated that Duminda Silva is guilty and stated her\nreasons for arriving at this decision. She has mentioned that she is sentencing\nDuminda Silva to death, according to Para 283 of the Criminal Procedure Code\nand in compliance with the terms of the Criminal Procedure Act. The third Judge\non the panel of judges, Judge Chamath Morais, has followed Padmini Ranawaka\u2019s\nverdict and expressed his agreement but has not mentioned the reasons for\narriving at that decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be\ncontinued\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026..<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – ,MATARA One of the sectors that came under severe politicization under Sirisena\/Ranil government was the Law and Order sector.  An illegal unit called FCID, branded by the opposition politicians as Ranil\u2019s Gestapo, carried out a witch hunt for opposition politicians, their spouses, children, relatives, supporters and even against some Buddhist monks.  […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aamnizam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}