(Lanka-e-News -01.Oct.2015, 11.30PM) Even before 72 hours had elapsed after the Prime minister gave away awards in connection with media freedom , the Vice chairman of Southern provincial council (PC) , Sampath Athukorale was arrested by the CID and remanded on the orders of the chief magistrate after being produced before court . Athukorale was charged with vilifying president Maithripala Sirisena via the face book.
The CID told court that during investigations it has come to light that during the last presidential elections, Athukorale posted a notice that was defamatory of the incumbent president who was then the common opposition presidential candidate via the face book .The mobile phone of the suspect was taken into custody and sent to the University , Colombo for investigation , the CID further revealed to court. The CID also requested court not to enlarge the suspect on bail , since , that could hamper the investigations.
The chief magistrate Gihan Pilapitiya after considering the submissions ordered that the suspect be remanded until the 5th of October. The chief magistrate also granted the request of the CID to record a statement of the suspect while in remand custody.
The most strange and rudely shocking part of this melodramatic law enforcement is , the suspect had been subjected to all this harassment without a complaint being lodged by the president who is supposed to have been maligned.
The face book is a social media through which personal information can be exchanged with those who communicate after opening a face book account. That contains private information regarding one another’s personal opinions and these are exchanged freely.
It is an acknowledged fact that nobody in the whole wide world gets ruffled by those opinions and views. There are rules and regulations governing the face book social media to prevent vilification via it. If anybody is vilified , he/she can make a complaint to the face book social media , which will probe whether its rules or regulations have been violated , and such transgressions are then eliminated from it. In the event of any account holder persisting in this habit of committing this violation several times deliberately , his account is permanently cancelled.
When the actual legal position is this , arresting an individual by the CID and remanding him merely on an allegation that the suspect indulged in such a violation even without the president himself making a complaint , only constitutes demonstrable proof of wanton erosion of the right to freedom of expression.
It is being doubted whether these are efforts to purposely tarnish the image of the government of good governance among the people , because nobody of the government has given approbation to these sabotage , stupid and eccentric moves.
In a country where the police and the Attorney General (AG) allow a Supreme court judge Sarath Abrew against whom there are complaints after complaints made by women of rape charges, to mount the sacrosanct judicial bench and hear cases without let or hindrance even without being arrested; and where the same police and AG say there are no charges whatsoever against KP the notorious LTTE leader , but deem it right to chase after a people’s representative who is a suspect merely in a face book social media accusation, and then to arrest and remand him just because he made some adverse comments allegedly via the face book , portends grave danger to the whole country , and is to cruelly muffle and gag the precious freedom of expression of the people.
It is the consensus such treacherous actions of these scoundrels and saboteurs which run counter to good governance must be resisted and opposed unconditionally.
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by (2015-10-01 21:26:02)
graces the bench, whereas PC Vice chairman remanded on his mere face book post - whither SL?)
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2 discussion on this news
Section 49 of the Judicature Act categorically states that when a Judge of the Supreme Court is party to a case - the matter must be heard by another judge of the Supreme Court - Are they deliberately going for a mistrial by taking the matter of Sarath de Abrew before a Magistrate.
-- by Cassandra on 2015-10-02
two independent matters dont mix issues
-- by UPALI JAYATILAKA on 2015-10-02
