Some citizens of this country are still struggling for a long time to get justice against the violence faced by them and their beloveds which is a tragedy.
But the real tragedy is obtaining justice is not a quick task in our country. According to Minister Ali Sabri, it usually takes 9 1/2 years to hear a case in the High Court and a year to start considering an appeal in a criminal matter and it takes 3-4 years to get a solution regarding that appeal. But that duration is also sometimes doubtful.
The case of David Amarasinghe can be taken as one of the best example, whose family lost him due to an attack by the Kirindiwela police 13 years ago.
David’s brother
As his brother Simon says, David was 46 years old by then and was looking after his mother after getting retired from the 12 years of service in the Lion Regiment of the Sri Lanka Army.
David who had gone to the shop to buy a piece of bread, on the night of August 13, 2010 Kirindiwela police officers who were on patrol came there in a cab and arrested.
As the police said he was arrested due to a phone call they got as he was drunk and also that David died from the injuries sustained when he jumped from the cab while going to the Kirindiwela Police Station after his arrest. But until today there is no caller and the autopsy report proves that the story was fabricated by the police as well as in the testimony of Kulatissa who witnessed the incident.
David Amarasinghe
As Kulatissa testified in the case of this death, a police officer has hit David in the area between his back and three feet with a stick in his hand and David had shouted from the basement to save him. After that, the police officer asked if you were trying to run away, and then he hit David’s head hard twice and pulled him into the cab by the back door.
And according to the autopsy report and blood tests it has been proven that he was not drunk.
However, the proceedings related to this incident are unfolding in the Pugoda Magistrate’s Court. Meanwhile, Judge Aravinda Perera, who was the Pugoda Magistrate at that time, started a non-registered trial by concluding that David’s death was a homicide, but the police objected to this. The police have informed the court to seek the advice of the Attorney General at that moment After that, the Attorney General informs the Pugoda Magistrate’s Court that David Amarasinghe’s case is not a case that needs to be taken forward and the accused can be thrown away.
For 13 years, this case has been tossed here and there between the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, and on the 14th of July last, the order was given to start the non-registered trial assigned to the Pugoda Magistrate’s Court again. By this time, David’s mother died in the year 2019 without knowing exactly how her son died. Also, Kulathissa, who was a very important witness in the case related to this incident, has died recently. However, 65-year-old Simon Amarasinghe is still searching for justice for his brother’s death along with other members of his family.
We had a small discussion with Simon Amarasinghe and his family who are dedicated to getting justice for his brother’s death.
It will be available as a video on https://youtube.com/@aithiyamedia2463.
In any case, after 13 years, the Supreme Court has ordered to re-hear the case related to the murder of David Amarasinghe, but will those who are left to testify in that case have the confidence, security or courage to continue to testify in this case? How long will it take to see an end to this case? It’s back to the beginning of this case, isn’t it? Why send justice around like this?
This is just another incident. A bunch of similar incidents can be found if dug deeper and also whether those incidents met justice or not. The people who sit in the first chairs of this country are not ashamed to think that they should cover the nakedness of the judicial system, which shows the delay of justice. I think we need to be responsible for it.