Courtroom killing:
… suspect was on ex-co of Women Lawyers’ Association
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has expressed concern over the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to detain Attorney-at-Law Thamara Abeyratne, arrested on charges of aiding and abetting the killer of Sanjeewa Kumara Samararatne (alias Ganemulle Sanjeewa) inside a Magistrate’s Court in Hulftsdorp on 19 February.
The Bar Council over the last weekend discussed the issues pertaining to the high-profile underworld hit and the arrest of BASL member Abeyratne following shocking disclosure made by Ishara Sewwandi that she had smuggled in a pistol to the court complex concealed in a hollowed-out copy of Penal Code provided by Abeyratne.
Abeyratne was on the Executive Committee of the Sri Lanka Women Lawyers’ Association’s 59th Annual General Meeting at Orchid, BMICH, in March 2022.
Sources said that the BASL wouldn’t under any circumstances represent the suspect though she could have her own counsel. Responding to The Island queries, sources emphasised that the continuing use of PTA for non-terrorism related cases nearly two decades after the end of the war is a contentious issue that had even received the attention of the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
Ganemulle Sanjeewa was shot dead by an ex-soldier disguised as a lawyer. Police arrested him within hours.
Nepal police arrested Sewwandi in mid-October and extradited her to Colombo.
Investigations have revealed that the Kadawatha-based lawyer had been in touch with organised crime suspect Mandinu Padmasiri, alias Kehelbaddara Padme, who ordered the Hulftsdorp hit. Kehelbaddara Padme, too, were arrested overseas and brought back to Colombo recently.
Asked whether the BASL would initiate internal action against the lawyer, sources said that for the moment they would closely observe the case. They said that the ongoing investigations would reveal the level of the lady lawyer’s involvement with Padme’s gang. If she had been duped by Sewwandi, she should have reported the matter to the police, sources said.
by Shamindra Ferdinando