Shyamlal Rajapaksa:
Efficient and tenacious prosecutor
Sam WIJESINHA
Weeks after Shyam had left Royal College his mother, Lalitha
Rajapaksa came to me and said that Shyam was spending a lot of his time
with his friends and not studying. She asked me to do what I did with
his father George.
(*Please see below)
George played cricket for Royal College and captained the first XI in
1944. George was the Royal Captain who scored two centuries in their
match against Trinity. I was watching the Royal - Thomian match that
year at the old S.S.C. grounds seated with his father D.M. Rajapaksa who
was the Member of the State Council (1936-45) who had played cricket for
Richmond and later for Wesley College in 1915. He was telling me stories
of his days at Wesley when he and a school friend A Ratnayake used to go
to public meetings at the Masoni Hall in Colombo to hear Sir Ponnambalam
Arunachalam speaking ‘On our Political Needs’ - Sir P Arunachalam it
was, who persuaded the different parties at that time to unite together,
and form the Ceylon National Congress of which he was unanimously
elected President in 1919.
General election
Shyamlal Rajapaksa |
When George got out for a small score in the second innings also, D.M.
started smiling and said “I also got out to this bowler’s father in both
innings of the S. Thomas - Wesley match in 1915”. The bowler was Sam
Elepatha whose father and grandfather played for S. Thomas in 1915 and
1884 respectively.
D M Rajapaksa died of a heart attack in May 1945. The only member of
age to contest the by-election was D. A. Rajapaksa, the younger brother
of D. M. and father of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. D. A. was elected
unopposed. D.A. was very reluctantly taken to the Hambantota Kachcheri
to submit his nomination for the by-election. He was proposed if I
recollect right, by D.M’s brother-in-law, Proctor George Weeratunge and
by Proctor Nilaweera of Tangalle whose son Nihal is a Tea planter of
repute who now works for the world famous ‘Dilmah’ tea, known in almost
90 countries today.
At the general election in 1947, under the Soulbury Constitution,
Hambantota was divided into two constituencies; Beliatta and Hambantota.
D.A. won Beliatta by over 8,000 votes. Lakshman, George’s brother, won
Hambantota.
* What I did with George referred to above by Lalitha I can’t repeat
myself, but as Lalitha insists, I can only refer to the speech of V.N.
Navaratnam, MP for Chavakachcheri appearing in the Hansard of July 6,
1976 - Speech made on the condolence reference to George in Parliament.
Shyam’s second death anniversary was on August 12.
Shyam studied at Royal College and left for London in 1986 and he
passed out as a Barrister in November 1990. He obtained the LL.M.
(London) Degree in November 1991, and completed his studies at the
Ceylon Law College, to be enrolled as an Attorney-at-Law in August 1992.
He joined the Chambers of Daya Perera P.C. where he worked as a junior
counsel till June 1993. He joined the Attorney General’s Department as a
State Counsel. From June 1993 to April 1999, Shyam prosecuted in the
High Courts in addition appearing in the Courts of Appeal. He was known
for his wit and humour and the rich anecdotes surrounding his court
appearances. Wherever he was there was laughter.
Human rights champion
In April 1999 Shyam left the A.G’s Dept. to contest the Southern
Provincial Council elections in June and won with the highest number of
votes in the Southern Council. Shyam never lost heart that his
remarkable victory was not duly recognized but he continued as a
Provincial Councillor for five years serving his electorate with
commitment and dedication. During this period he also carried on his
practice mainly in the Ratnapura District and in the Southern Province.
In 2004, Shyam joined the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in
Arusha, Tanzania where he diligently prosecuted in cases of genocide and
war crimes committed in Rwanda. His efficiency and tenacity as a
prosecutor resulted in that he was promoted in June 2009 within five
years by the United Nations. The impact Shyam had as a human rights
champion is reflected in the statement made by Steven Rapp, the former
Chief Prosecutor at the War Crimes Tribunal who was subsequently
appointed as a legal advisor to the White House. Addressing the
allegations of Human Rights violations levelled against Sri Lanka in the
aftermath of our war, in a statement given to the press from the White
House, Steven Rapp cast serious doubts as to the credibility of the
allegations, perhaps the highest though a remote compliment that could
be paid to Sri Lanka.
Shyam came from a colourful and distinguished family in the country.
He is the grandson of the late D.M. Rajapaksa and the only son of George
Rajapaksa, MP (1960-1976) a former Cabinet Minister who held several
portfolios and of Lalitha Rajapaksa. His only sister is Nirupama
Rajapaksa, Member of Parliament and Deputy Minister of Water Supply and
Drainage.
War Crimes Tribunal
Shyam met Prashanthi Mahindaratne at the Attorney General’s
Department in 1993 and they got married in February 2002. Prashanthi
also served as a State Counsel for 10 years before leaving herself for
the Netherlands to take up an appointment at the United Nations War
Crimes Tribunal, which tries genocide and war crimes committed in
Yugoslavia during the Balkan war.
When Shyam as a State Counsel was prosecuting in Anuradhapura, the
H.C. Judge had an inclination to discharge accused when the prosecution
witnesses were not present due to non-service of summons. In one such
case, when Shyam realized that the witnesses weren’t present for the
trial, he made an application that the judge issue an order to the
Registrar to buy Shyam a bicycle! The judge, perplexed with this
application, inquired what the application was about, pat came his
response - “Your Honour, this is to ensure the presence of witnesses. I
intend to serve summons in person, so I need a bicycle for that”.
When Shyam was prosecuting in Galle, one day, C.R. De Silva P.C., the
former A.G. summoned Prashanthi, and asked where Shyam was. She
responded that he was in Galle. He informed her that the High Court
Judge had reported that Shyam was missing.
The AG, immediately recalled Shyam to Colombo with a warning that
unless he offer a reasonable excuse for his non-appearance in court, he
would face disciplinary charges. Shyam arrived in Colombo with a medical
certificate from one of his friends stating as he was critically ill.
The AG summoned Prashanthi also and told her, “I called to congratulate
you on the pending arrival” - Apparently Shyam’s medical certificate had
been issued by the house officer in charge of the Galle Maternity Ward!
Remarkable man
Shyam had a unique personality. He dressed fashionably and danced
gracefully. He was articulate in whatever language, he spoke. He was
also an excellent cook and prepared exquisite dishes and taught his wife
also to cook. He was loyal to his family and friends - supported them
consistently. Shyam loved his family and friends. His friends were
numerous. His relations were also numerous! Wherever he went there was
someone who knew him. Appreciations written by his colleagues at the UN
in Tanzania record how he became extremely popular in Tanzania within
five years to the extent that they would joke that Shyam ought to
contest for Parliament in Tanzania. He loved life and everybody who knew
him loved him.
The most endearing quality of this remarkable man was his ability to
make friends, from whatever background. His ability to integrate into
any part of society and be friends is reflected in the condolence book
sent by the UN War Crimes Court to this family. In that there are people
who have written personal and emotional messages expressing their shock
and grief over his untimely passing and they rage from the minor staff,
right up to the Counsel and Judges of the Court. He had no barriers when
it came to making friends.
There were many heartwarming stories of Shyam’s kindness and care.
One woman spoke about his travel to the Hambantota Magistrate Court
about 15 times and appearing for her husband who was in remand due to
lack of money for bail. Shyam defended the accused and once the man was
acquitted Shyam gave him money to get home. Even his wife did not know
these deeds until his passing away. In Tanzania he did much for the
poor, from getting electricity for the home of his housemaid at his
cost, to sponsoring her and her children to learn English, to teaching
poor children in the neighbourhood, to financially assisting poor people
in the area to start small business ventures as selling fruits and
vegetables.
There lies the essence of this wonderful young man with the sparkling
smile. He helped people out of compassion. In his premature passing, we
probably lost a very good human being who had an abiding love and cared
for humanity. |