From Minister, judge to the common man feel....:

Gallows, best deterrent to arrest horrendous crimes

Pulse of the People by Ananda Kannangara

Gruesome killings have been reported from all corners of the country almost everyday and it appears that, authorities are yet to take adequate measures to arrest this situation. The `Sunday Observer' last week sought the views of members of Parliament, judges, lawyers and the general public on this issue.

Former Minister of Justice W.D.J. Seneviratna vehemently condemned the cases of gruesome killings which took place in many parts of the country and said that crimes of this nature can be eliminated only by re-imposing the death penalty.

"The law is there in black and white to hang the wrongdoers, but unfortunately it has not been implemented,"

He said during his tenure as the Minister of Justice he made a proposal to the then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to re-impose the death penalty.. "But the President did not take a positive step and had it been implemented that time, the crime rate would have drastically come down by today,".

Magistrate and District Judge M.S.N.L de Costa echoed the view that reimposing death penalty was the best solution to minimise crime rate and called on the authorities to reactivate the gallows as early as possible.

He said only the murderers and drug users must be sent to the gallows whereas other law breakers such as rapists, kidnappers and big time robbers must be sentenced to life imprisonment.

De Costa also criticised the interference by certain politicians and their clout on the police. He recalled the time when he was the Magistrate at Anuradhapura, where he instructed the police not to allow cyclists to ride at night without lamps, thus to prevent accidents.

"But the police were able to maintain that process only for a week when an 'order' given by a powerful politician in the area," which nullified the program.

He came to know later that men who were ride cycles without lamp were close associates of the parliamentarian.

A retired additional judge, presiding a Magistrate's Court down south who wished to remain unidentified condemned the gruesome killings. He recalled of several cases he had heard while, on the Bench, where politicians were indirectly involved in most of the criminal cases.

"I was unable to perform my duties according to my conscience, since 60 per cent of the criminals were engaged in their activities with full backing from local politicians,".

A lawyer by profession, Nihal Samarakkodi said that in certain cases judges, magistrates and officials in the judiciary were pressurised to release even hard-core criminals from powerful quarters. "This situation will only help criminals to get involved more or more and there it is the duty of the authorities to highlight this in public, so that political interferences can be eliminated.

A Provincial Councillor in the Galle District Lokuheva Karunaratna said criminals must be 'eliminated' by imposing the death penalty and pleaded the Government to hold a referendum to re-activate the death penalty.

He also cautioned the public not to brand all the politicians in the same category. "I never sought assistance from thugs and criminals to become a councillor,".

A 40 year old welder P.I. Jayasekara said the criminals cannot be reformed even after they 'spend' for ten years or more in jails.

"The best antidote is to grant them a life imprisonment without remission or sentence them to death weighing the gravity of the crime.

Nimalasiri of Payagala who believes in "taking law into your hands" attitudes, demanded, "At least one or two dangerous criminals must be hanged in public at the Galle Face Green, so that others will learn a lesson, whereby the crime rate will go down within no time".

"If the Government does not implement the death penalty, I request all peace loving people to get together and round up the criminals and deal with them without handing them over to the police,".

A 32 year old vegetable vendor K. Wickremasena asked the authorities to impose the death penalty to prevent murders and large scale robberies in the future.

"We too must punish the culprits like they do in some Arabian countries, as we realise there are hardly any thefts or murders in those countries due to deterrent punishments,"

S.D. Gayan Surendra said that Government will never be able to eliminate criminals unless strict laws are implemented.

"Therefore, re-imposing the death penalty is the best remedy" to down the crime rate,".

He said the death penalty must be carried out after a scrutiny of the case and the accused involved, otherwise innocent people will go to gallows".

Ramya Subasinghe of Pitadeniya in Kandy opined that on-going killings of entire families and individuals could be stopped if we follow two options.

"One is to give more power to police to eliminate criminals like how it is happening now and the other option is to bring the culprits before the judiciary and put them in jail for their entire life,"

A Ratnapura based senior Police officer who wished to remain anonymous said that although people have been criticising the police for not taking suitable action to book in criminals, strategies are followed to minimise the crime rate.

"If anyone says that police is silent and are not doing anything to bring down the crime rate it is an downright lie. For example during the past few months we eliminated a number of criminals and also brought in a large number of others before the judiciary,".

A 23 year old student in the Colombo University, Gayantha Punchinilame thanked the police in eliminating criminals without taking them before the judiciary.

"When criminals are brought in before the judiciary, they are sent to jail. But, later they are released through influence, so it is only fair to give the power to mete out punishment".

A school girl Gayathri Gunawardana said "I call upon the President Mahinda Rajapaksa to re-impose the death penalty which was stopped long ago. "Mr. President, this act will not tarnish the image of you and we should not be bothered about human rights organisations. When an entire family was wiped out in Delgoda last week, did any human rights organisation whisper a word in protest?"

She was optimistic if few were sentenced to death, the crime rate in the country will come down. Kamal Piyasena of Kurunegala said that the death penalty was the best solution to stop killings, kidnapping, drug trafficking and similar crimes,"

A 46 year old tri-shaw driver Kulasiri Samarasena of Panadura queried as to why the courts 'legally' impose the death penalty only for murderers and drug dealers.

"What about the sexual abusers, kidnappers and burglers. I feel they too must be hanged like in the Middle Eastern countries".

A Buddhist priest, a Catholic priest and a Kurukkal at a Kovil at Bambalapitiya made similar observations.

According to them those who were found guilty must not be sentenced to death. They must be given a term of life imprisonment,"

A school teacher Kumar Senadilankara of Pannipitiya said "When Justice Ambepitiya was killed in Colombo, there was a talk that the death penalty will be re-imposed. The print and the electronic media too gave a massive publicity on this issue. "Then, crime rate dropped to a certain extent, which show that criminals are scared of the death penalty,"

"But unfortunately it did not happen and the crime rate spiralled again. I request the President to re-impose it for the sake of innocent people whereas the affluent like Parliamentarians have plenty of security,"

Ven. Pitipana Sumedha Thera said "I am really against the death penalty. Actually the human lives must not be destroyed, so I propose to the Government to put dangerous criminals in the prison with a cross tattooed on their cheeks, so that everyone can identify them easily"

Philix Pereira of Wellawatta said "The death penalty is given by the court of law, but is carried out on the orders of the President who is elected by people," "Therefore I think it ought to be taken off from the President and rest it with the Chief Justice. So, that the order could be delivered by the Chief Justice", he said.