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Public petition calls for former CID Head Shani’s protection 

09 Mar 2022

 
  • Civil society movement to send letter to Prez., Speaker, Sajith 
  • Notes service rendered by Abeysekara as top notch crime investigator 
  BY Dinitha Rathnayake  A movement of civil society organisations and individuals have commenced signing a petition to protect the life of former Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Director Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) (Retd.) Shani Abeysekara, by not allowing the Government to attack him in any way. Speaking to The Morning, movement organiser Brito Fernando said that the petition and a letter with a collection of signatures would be forwarded to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Speaker of the Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa. The letter stated thus: “There are fears across the country today that the life of Abeysekara, who has done a great service to the field of criminal investigation in Sri Lanka, will be harmed. There are good reasons for that. His unnecessary imprisonment for several months was strongly criticised even in the Court of Appeal. Only with the intervention of that court was he able to get out of prison. This fear occurs in a very dark environment. Many of the major crimes committed in the country have not been investigated in a fair manner and hence the possibility of a proper prosecution of these cases is very low.  “Today, the Government wants to convict him on trumped up charges and thereby silence him on the ongoing investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks, the enforced disappearance of Journalist Pradeep Eknaligoda, and many other crimes, and therefore the Government accuses him of working in various ways to save his life.”  We request the public to sign this petition as an organisation or as an individual, Fernando added. Abeysekara has given a lengthy account of the injustice done to him in a case pending before the Supreme Court (SC).  “What we are trying to protect is the opportunity for a citizen, especially an official involved in a great deal of Government work, to bring to justice the injustices he is alleged to have suffered and thereby achieve justice in a favourable environment. We respectfully request that all necessary steps be taken to protect the life of Abeysekara in such a situation. In particular, we urge the restoration of the protection he deserves in light of his duties and to work to prevent any attack against him in society.”  Fernando also called on interested parties to come in front of the SC tomorrow (10) at around 9 a.m. which is when Abeysekara’s case is to be taken up.


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