Thursday, July 4, 2019

President failed to consult public over death penalty – Wigneswaran

Sulochana Ramiah Mohan- Jul 04 2019

Former Chief Minister of Northern Province and Supreme Court Judge, C.V. Wigneswaran said the only mistake President Maithripala Sirisena has made is that he tagged himself on to the promotion of the death sentence without preceding it with public discussion.

He told Ceylon Today that if there was a public outcry against drug dealers and others connected to the distribution and use of deadly drugs and he came forward to give effect to such public concern and uproar, then the reaction to his determination to bring in the death sentence would not have been so severe.

“It may have been even positive. But the public perceive his activities now in this regard as a political gimmick.”

He further noted that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa rode to victory on his so- called vanquishing of the Tamil Tigers and President Sirisena has felt that he could become popular by implementing the death sentence on drug peddlers, more so after 21 April since most of those caught for drug offences were Muslims. “He is not concerned about drugs and their abuse but is only concerned in coming back to power as the President. So the public view his antics. Therefore, I doubt his reaping any electoral benefits by this latest campaign against drugs. In fact, the effects would be negative.”

Wigneswaran noted that the main concern of those opposing the death sentence were two fold. “One is that society now views an offender as a person to be pitied and not hated. Therefore, the modern trend has been, unlike 5,000 years ago when the Hammurabi Code prescribed a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye, corrective in nature.”

Wigneswaran emphasized that death sentences are not implemented but long prison sentences are given instead to make the offender realise his folly and to regret. “The other reason is that once the offender is killed and if it comes out that the conviction was based on false evidence and the so- called offender is indeed innocent, then there would be no way of reparation since he or she would then be no more. Sometimes we have seen professional witnesses who are able to give false evidence so convincingly. On such evidence, a Court convicts someone and later it is found to be false evidence. What could anyone do if the so-called offender's life has been already taken,” he asked.