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An attorney of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, D.W.C. Mohotti, who is also a member of the Bar Association, narrated in an affidavit the harassment he suffered while accompanying a client to the Bambilipitya Police Station last month.
On the instructions of Ranil Samarasuriya, a senior lawyer practicing in Colombo, Mohotti took his client, K.P. Anil Rupasinghe, to the Bambilipitya Police Station on several occasions. However, the police stated that Rupasinghe’s presence was not required and he would be called if it were.
When Rupasinghe received a notice asking him to appear at the police station on Oct. 24, Mohotti accompanied him. The lawyer met the officer-in-charge of the crime branch, who introduced him to the headquarters inspector, Upul Seneviratne.
According to Mohotti, Seneviratne became extremely angry with the client, scolded him in filthy language and in a threatening manner told him to admit that he had committed robbery for money.
Mohotti said Seneviratne continued to scold and threaten his client for about 30 minutes in his presence, and stated that he would take out a detention order against him. He then threatened to assault the client and blame the incident on Mohotti. During this entire period the client repeatedly denied involvement in any robbery and stated his innocence.
The headquarters inspector suddenly stood up and attempted to assault the client. At that stage, Mohotti intervened and stated that as the client was protesting his innocence, the case should be reported to court and that if there were any need to obtain a detention order Seneviratne could do so.
Mohotti offered to hand over the client to the police, and to make a statement if necessary. But this only angered Seneviratne further, and he ordered the lawyer to leave his office. In reply, the lawyer said he was representing his client and therefore it was not possible to leave the office.
As the headquarters inspector’s anger mounted, a police inspector came in, put his hand on the lawyer’s shoulder and threateningly told him to get out. As he was leaving, Seneviratne shouted at him from the veranda that he would write to the lawyer’s associations to have his coat and tie removed and that lawyers are useless fellows. The lawyer was able to record this tirade.
Mohotti said the headquarters inspector also shouted, “This is my place,” giving the impression that he treated the police station as his private property rather than a public place where people come to have the law enforced.
Mohotti said the police inspector who led him away also forcibly took his lawyer’s identity card. After being refused the right to make a statement about the incident, and ordered to sit in the area where suspects are held, Mohotti called his senior and reported the situation.
A little later, the same inspector who took Mohotti’s ID card returned it to him, told him it was not possible to record a statement, and asked him to leave. Later he learned that his senior lawyer had made a telephone call to the DIG Legal of the police, Gamini Dissanayake, who instructed the inspector to return his lawyer’s ID card.
According to Mohotti, if his senior had not contacted Dissanayake, he would have been detained as a common criminal and very likely fabricated charges would have been filed against him.
Many persons, police officers and civilians at the police station, including Mohotti’s, client witnessed Seneviratne’s behavior. Mohotti said the episode caused him extreme shock and distress and he felt cowed by the situation. This was the first time he had ever faced a situation like that.
Accompanied by another lawyer, he went to Police Headquarters and made a complaint about the incident.
This incident is symbolic of the change in Sri Lanka where police have taken the upper hand in the administration of justice. In many earlier columns by this writer, stories of individual citizens that have been harassed, tortured and abused by power-welding officials have been illustrated.
The diminishing role of the lawyer is part of the process in which the police can act with impunity. A humiliated and cowed legal profession cannot provide the type of defense it is expected to provide. When lawyers themselves are treated in this manner, there is little hope for citizens harassed by state agencies to find any justice.
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(Basil Fernando is director of the Asian Human Rights Commission based in Hong Kong. He is a Sri Lankan lawyer who has also been a senior U.N. human rights officer in Cambodia. He has published several books and written extensively on human rights issues in Asia. His blog can be read at http://srilanka-lawlessness.com)
