Mangala is a troublemaker – the President
- Friday, 25 October 2013
The President has recently told a few trusted heads of security forces that former Foreign Affairs Minister and UNP Matara District parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera was a troublemaker as he was instigating quiet opposition MPs into speaking against the government and was discussing with disgruntled government ministers to conspire to topple the government.
The security heads have agreed with the President’s statement. The person who gave us the information said that the security heads are now looking at experimenting with various methods to address the President’s problem in order to score points with him.
The person reminded the fate that befell journalist Richard de Soyza during the end of January in 1990 when he wrote a play – Who is this? What is he doing? (Me kwda? Monavada karanne?). Then President Ranasinghe Premadasa had told then DIG Ronnie Gunasinghe, “Isn’t this fellow a troublemaker Ronnie?” Ronnie Gunasinghe and then Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne have at the time agreed with Premadasa’s statement.
Richard was abducted within three weeks after the President’s statement and was killed on February 18, 1990.
The person who gave us the story also said that there’s always a possibility of history repeating itself. However, given that the person who gave the order also died within three years, it is evident that the person who gives the command is also killed eventually.
Thu, Oct 24, 2013, 10:08 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Oct 24, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Cabinet has given its approval for the Witness and Victim Protection Bill proposed by Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem to proceed further.The Bill will now be referred to the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation for its recommendations before it is presented to Parliament.
The law enacted by the Assistance and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Bill will create a balance in the Criminal Justice System of Sri Lanka between the rights of accused, the rights and entitlements of victims of crime and the entitlements of witnesses, the government said Thursday following its regular cabinet meeting.
The proposed bill will facilitate the conduct of fair trials and justice being meted out to both victims and accused of crime.
Sri Lanka does not have a witness protection law or program. Many human rights groups have emphasized the need of a mechanism to protect the victims and witnesses to improve the human rights situation of the country.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, in her report to the UN Human Rights Council last month, called for a strong witness and victim protection legislation.
New York based Human Rights Watch in September this year reiterated its call, also made by Pillay, for a strong and effective victim and witness protection program in Sri Lanka.
During her visit to Sri Lanka in August, Pillay met with the Chief Justice, Attorney General and Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem to discuss the government's progress on instituting the victim and witness protection program and offered technical support from her office to prepare the draft legislation.
Under the proposed bill the government will set up a national authority for the protection of victims of crime. The authority will be empowered to "provide assistance and redress to victims of crime upon an application."
