A timely directive

The directive issued by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the IGP for the speedy arrest of the culprits responsible for the attack on the residence of Attorney-at-law J.C. Weliamuna it is hoped would produce results.

It is one week since the attack and there have been several protest campaigns by the legal fraternity demanding the arrest of the perpetrators. The Presidential order comes in the wake of the representations made by a delegation from the Bar Association of Sri Lanka who met him at Temple Trees on Friday. BASL President W. Dayaratne had called upon the President to expedite the investigation and bring the culprits before the law.

All right thinking members of the public would want to see the culprits brought to justice as a form a deterrent against a repetition. If a member of the legal profession is attacked in this fashion what fate awaits the an ordinary person will be the message conveyed to the public at large.

Hence the President's decision to get the IGP's intervention to investigate the matter is a most opportune and timely one. As a one time prominent human rights lawyer himself, the President is only too aware of the trials and tribulations his ilk had to endure during a particular period when he risked life and limb to ensure justice.

He has on many occasions expressed concern for the lot of the lawyers and insights on the vicissitudes they encounter. The President at this meeting with the BASL delegation recalled how during his days as a human rights lawyer he too came under attack. We hope that the Police Department would expend all resources at its disposal to get at the bottom of this incident.

As a delegation member noted there may be certain interested elements who would indulge in unruly acts to discredit the Government. This is a time that those opposed to the Government are working overtime to tarnish its image internationally, particularly on the human rights front. That the lawyer concerned is active in that sphere may have been pounced on with glee by these elements. Therefore the Police should ideally cover all angles in their investigations.

This is not to say that they should prejudge the issue in any way. What is required is a thorough investigation that would factor in all possibilities in a process of elimination. The President no doubt would have been doubly concerned because this is the first time under his Government that such an incident has occurred although far more serious incidents have taken place years earlier. These include the infamous stoning of Supreme Court Judges' houses and the assassination of a High Court Judge.

There was also the Bheeshanaya period when lawyers who brought habeas corpus applications before courts were murdered or simply disappeared. The blackest episode of that era was the death of lawyer Wijedasa Liyanaarachchi while in police custody - a case in which the present President was deeply involved as a human rights lawyer.

This was a time when the lives of lawyers were at a premium and most of the legal fraternity fled the country particularly after the killing of another human rights lawyer Kanchana Abeypala.

Today mercifully we are free of such terror acts which makes the attack on a single lawyer stand out like a sore thumb. President Rajapaksa who was in thick of things as an active human rights lawyer at the time will not want the ghosts of that period to revisit the country anymore.

The conduct of the main Opposition in this scenario to say the least is unbecoming.

It has no moral right to take cudgels on behalf of lawyers given its dismal record in that regard.

Instead of pointing the accusing finger at the Government it should come out with any information that would help arrest the culprits. This is not an issue to play politics with.