Path To The Legislature

• Field Marshal Vs Legislator

by Dinuk Samarasinghe

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in January 2009 pointed the finger for the assassination of Lasantha (and other crimes) at a team within the military intelligence wing, albeit one operating independent of government control.

“Today it is the opposition and the media who are the targets,” Ranil Wickremesinghe said in the immediate aftermath of the attack on Wickrematunge. “But a similar fate can befall the government and the cabinet tomorrow. I am talking on behalf of the entire House now,” he said.

Wickremesinghe’s prophecy came to pass on January 8, 2015, exactly six years after the cold-blooded murder of Lasantha but alas, although the public voted for the January 8 Revolution, they are still left in the lurch with the real masterminds of the murder roaming free.

 

UNP contradicts pledges

February 9 was a red letter day in the history of democracy and parliamentary politics in this country. Leader of the Democratic Party, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka took oaths before the Speaker of the House Karu Jayasuriya as a United National Party (UNP) Member of Parliament for the parliamentary seat left vacant by the death of Minister M. K. D. S. Gunawardena.

UNFGG’s appointment to parliament of the former army chief, whose forces were implicated in widespread abuses, contradicts pledges to investigate alleged war crimes, Human Rights Watch said.

“During the final months of the fighting, Sri Lankan forces under Fonseka’s command were implicated in numerous instances of unlawful shelling of civilians and hospitals, rape and other sexual violence, and the summary execution of prisoners. The government’s failure to prosecute those responsible for serious crimes led to an October 2015 United Nations Human Rights Council resolution calling for justice and accountability which the Sri Lanka government co-sponsored,” Brad Adams, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division said.

“Fonseka’s appointment is a breach of trust for victims and families who believed in this government’s commitment to deliver justice for war crimes.”

“Fonseka’s appointment was announced the day that President Sirisena met with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, and renewed his commitment to justice and accountability for wartime abuses. Under UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1, adopted on October 1, 2015, Sri Lanka agreed to establish various mechanisms with the assistance of the international community to deliver justice, reconciliation, and respect for human rights. Sirisena has recently elicited concerns about his commitment to justice by saying that it would not be possible to include foreign judges and prosecutors in a justice mechanism, a key component of the resolution.”

“President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe are sending worrying signals on accountability at a time when they should be presenting themselves as leaders determined to achieve justice for all Sri Lankans,” Adams said.

“By giving Fonseka a seat in parliament and the highest military rank, they threaten the goodwill their government has generated since coming to power.” “Fonseka’s appointment signals that the government may protect senior military leaders suspected of widespread abuses.

The government should meaningfully demonstrate to the Sri Lankan people and the UN that it’s serious about accountability and not on the road to a whitewash.”

 

Blatant violation of the Constitution

Many legal luminaries have pointed out that appointing Fonseka to parliament was a violation of the 1978 Second Republican Constitution.

Article 91 of the Constitution clearly stipulates that a member of the regular armed forces such as Field Marshal Fonseka cannot be appointed to parliament: “No person shall be qualified to be elected as a Member of Parliament or to sit and vote in Parliament – (xi) a member of the Regular Force of the Army, Navy or Air Force…”

The post of Field Marshal is defined as a very senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks and appointing Fonseka as Field Marshal was the very first instance in Sri Lanka where a former member, let alone a member of the armed forces, was appointed as Field Marshal. Usually it is the highest rank in an army, and when it is, few (if any) persons are appointed to it. It is considered as a five-star rank (OF-10) in modern day armed forces in many countries.

 

Opposed by UNP rank and file

Fonseka was appointed from the ruling UNP in the face of opposition from its own rank and file. Reportedly the UNP Working Committee had endorsed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s request to appoint Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka to parliament via the National List amidst vehement opposition from some party members. The Justice Minister had vehemently opposed the move stating that it was unethical to appoint defeated candidates as MPs via the National List pointing out that it was a blatant violation of the mandate given by the people.

Premier Wickremesinghe was praised by all quarters for his firm stance of not appointing defeated candidates to parliament through the National List. In fact Wickremesinghe’s decision even eliminated the opportunity for the likes of Rosy Senanayake from being appointed to parliament through the National List following her defeat at the last general election polling over 78,000 votes. Even the general public looked at Wickremesinghe’s policy of leading by example when its national government partner – the SLFP – decided to appoint a significant number of its defeated members to parliament through the National List.

Eknaligoda saga

It is believed that Prageeth Eknaligoda, who was a critic of the Rajapaksa regime, was abducted and murdered reportedly for compiling ‘The Family Tree’ – a book on former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family members involved in politics and holding high posts in the government. He had also produced a 40-minute documentary on ‘secrets of winning the war’ portraying the then presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka. However it is questionable as to why the Field Marshal is yet to give evidence against his erstwhile brothers-in-arms, the Rajapaksas.

 

Murder of Lasantha Wickrematunge

After General Sarath Fonseka came into the fray in the run-up to the 2010 Presidential Poll, the former President tried to wipe his slate clean by saying that it was none other than his chief opponent Fonseka that killed The Sunday Leader Founder Editor-in-Chief Lasantha Wickrematunge. To date not a single step has been taken by Fonseka to clear his name.

In an article titled ‘Poetic Justice For My Father Lasantha?’ his only daughter Ahimsa Wickrematunge wrote on December 9, 2014, “It was this same President (Mahinda Rajapaksa) who on several occasions had informed my Uncle Lal that it was Gen. Sarath Fonseka who killed my father. There is a case ongoing in the Magistrates Court of Mt Lavinia into my father’s death. I truly hope that he would go that short distance to place such evidence before court. Gen, Sarath Fonseka, when asked by a reporter from BBC, accused the President and his brother Gota of killing my father.”

Although investigations have been inconclusive, when Fonseka broke away from the regime, the Rajapaksas publicly accused him of killing Lasantha, reported The Colombo Telegraph. For instance, then Government MP Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha told BBC that the Defence Attaché of the British High Commission (BHC) in Colombo ‘gave a note’ that accused Gen. Fonseka of being responsible for that assassination. As the BBC reported, the British authorities have neither denied nor confirmed Prof. Wijesinha’s statement.

When interviewed by Uvindu Kurukulasuriya of Colombo Telegraph in 2013, then Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is said to have confirmed what he said at Lasantha’s funeral that the killers were four army persons.

If Ranil Wickremesinghe hinted that Fonseka could have been one of the masterminds, what ‘miracle’ led him to a change of heart?

 

2010 Presidential Poll

Within a fortnight of the presidential poll held on January 26, 2010, General Fonseka was forcibly dragged out from his office by soldiers formerly under his command and detained. According to Transcurrents, General Fonseka was deprived of his basic rights and cruelly victimised in a blatant display of revenge by the Rajapaksa regime for having contested the presidential poll of 2010 as common opposition candidate.

“Sarath Fonseka kept on shouting and struggling as he was forcibly dragged down the steps from the first floor. Some of the soldiers dragging the General were seen hitting their former commander in a bid to restrain him. One soldier was seen delivering a powerful punch to the back of Sarath Fonseka’s head. When the soldiers assaulted him, the General retorted by resorting to colourful expressions and choice epithets in both the Sinhala and English languages. The 59-year-old General, who had survived an LTTE suicide bomb attempt on his life in April 2006, was manhandled very roughly by the soldiers who dragged him down the stairs by pulling his hands.”

He was court-martialled not just by one but two for ‘committing military offences’ during his time as Chief of Defence Staff.

The military tribunal in which the case was heard was challenged on multiple issues including the suitability and qualifications of the judges and the hearing of the case during an official holiday period of lawyers (9 August to 13th, 2010), and his lawyers were not present. Furthermore, because the witnesses were summoned during the aforementioned period, the lawyers of the accused never had a chance to interrogate the witnesses.

Amidst all these issues, the panel of judges found Fonseka guilty of the charges and sentenced him to 30 months of rigorous imprisonment.

In August 2010, by proclamation from President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, he was cashiered from the army having been stripped of his rank, medals and decorations. His military pension was forfeited.

In November 2011 Fonseka was sentenced to three years in jail and fined Rs. 5,000 in a two-one split verdict delivered in the white flag case with two judges finding him guilty on one of the charges while one of the judges acquitted him on all three charges.

In March 2012, he was acquitted by Judge Sunil Rajapaksa of the High Court of Colombo of fraud charges in the case known as the ‘Hi-Corp Case’ upholding the objections raised by his counsel that the charges in the High Court and the Court Martial were substantially the same and that he cannot be sentenced twice on the same offence. However he was also charged for harbouring deserters during the presidential election campaign.