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| Sunday, 19 December 2004 |
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Death penalty: 'Talk of the town' by Anura Maitipe Enforcement of the death penalty is now the talk of the town. Majority of people have endorsed this move by the President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. The member of Law Commission and a senior lawyer Dr. Jayatissa de Costa and former High Court Judge W.T. Lesley Fernando shared their views with the Sunday Observer. They said, "it was reported in the newspapers that suspected killer of a doctor's wife at Padaviya hospital was a former convicted criminal for a murder case who was released a few months ago. If capital punishment had been in force then, he would have been hung". Former High Court Judge W.T. Lesley Fernando said, "in the process of enactment of death penalty on a convicted criminal there is a certain procedure to follow". "When I was a High Court Judge from 1995 to 1997 in Ampara, seven persons were convicted for murder. But in my report to the president I have not approved the death penalty for four of those convicted on humanitarian grounds", he said. "Although we convicted them on legal grounds by adhering to provisions of criminal code. In some instances, judges are compelled to look at certain cases at a human angle by considering their background. |
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