(COLOMBO) – Sri Lanka’s top legal fraternity on Wednesday expressed serious concern of custodial deaths by police saying that such a practice was unacceptable.
President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) Kaushalya Nawaratne’s remarks came following the latest killing of a suspect on Monday by police barely 48 hours after he was taken into custody
The suspect who was wanted in connection with the murder of a Buddhist monk a month ago was shot dead with police claiming that the man had attempted to escape from custody.
Nawaratne said that the Bar Association raised similar killings on many occasions but, unfortunately, the police seemed to be conducting ‘operations’ regardless of specific guidelines issued in such cases.
The Bar Association is to issue an official statement regarding the latest incident underscoring the importance of ensuring protection for suspects, irrespective of whatever crimes they were suspected of.
Nawaratne called for an impartial inquiry into the incident at the very earliest.
The legal fraternity and the police have been clashing in recent times after the Public Security Minister Tiran Alles accused senior lawyers of appearing on behalf of notorious criminals in return for large fees.
Alles who is in charge of the Police Department had repeatedly hinted at finishing off known gangsters but stopped short of providing the police with a license to kill.
However his remarks drew flak from the legal fraternity, human rights activists and others both from within the country and elsewhere.
The police supported by sections of the security forces have since late December last year launched a daily after dusk operation throughout the island-nation to nab criminal operatives and their handlers.
Over 75,000 persons have since been arrested, the bulk of them drug addicts and minor offenders who are subsequently sent to State-run rehabilitation centers.
