Strictly follow the rules of law in the case of Fonseka - SPUR

In the issue of arrested Retired General Sarath Fonseka, the Melbourne based Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka has urged the Government of Sri Lanka: to strictly follow the rules of law and let the military carryout their task without fear or favor or political interference giving the benefit of the doubt to the accused until proven guilty.

“ We also request that the military follow due process and provide Gen (ret) Fonseka with the necessary assistance and access to a lawyer of his choice to conduct and coordinate his defence while providing his family the facilities to access him, the statement released by the SPUR has further urged.

The SPUR in its statement further adds:

We also request the Government of Sri Lanka: to immediately brief the overseas missions of the official reasons for Fonseka’s arrest and the procedure and the time frame expected to be followed in his prosecution.

We appeal to the armed forces of Sri Lanka: to stand united as they have always done in defending the nation and its people and be apolitical in their conduct. We also request the Military that the judicial process be speeded up, the military court be constituted and brought into action without delay as "Justice delayed is seen as justice denied”.

We urge Gen (retired) Fonseka and his supporters: to immediately cease their unpatriotic behaviour running down our democratic institutions, armed forces and the political leadership as it is causing damage to the reputation of our motherland, Sri Lanka.

We urge the people of Sri Lanka: to desist engaging in any activities to disrupt peace and respect diverse political opinions. We also request that they desist from carrying out violent street protests damaging public property.

We urge the Sri Lankan Diaspora: to be patient, and have faith in Sri Lanka’s military and civil judiciary system to determine whether Gen (retired) Fonseka is indeed guilty as accused, or free of any accusations.

We urge the International Community: not to prejudge the efficacy of accusations against Gen (retired) Fonseka, and respect Sri Lanka’s law and let due process take place without direct or indirect external interference.

Background

The General (retired) Sarath Fonseka has been arrested by the military police and held in custody pending court-martial. On a number of occasions, requests were made to Gen (retired) Fonseka not to throw baseless and vindictive accusations against serving military personnel and the political leadership in Sri Lanka.

General (retired) Fonseka was also encouraged to take his case, if there was one, to the judiciary in Sri Lanka and seek recourse.

Gen (ret) Fonseka statements in public have helped many interested parties including some members of the international community to construct a preposterous human rights violation case against Sri Lanka’s government and its defence forces.

The Tamil Tiger Diaspora has vigorously campaigned against the Sri Lanka Government in keeping with their unfulfilled racist and separatist objectives, accusing the country of war crimes without any credible evidence.

They continue to fabricate fictitious accounts of war crimes planning to prosecute the military and the political leadership in Sri Lanka. Gen (ret) Fonseka’s arrest has been used by this disingenuous mob to parrot that there is no democracy in Sri Lanka and the arrest is evidence of that.

They also say that he is muzzled from either challenging the results of the recently concluded elections or giving war crimes evidence. We also consider those who encouraged and coerced General (retired) Fonseka into taking up politics in order to further their own narrow objectives have done a great disservice to the General and considerable damage to the nation.

They should stand condemned by all patriotic Sri Lankans.

It has been reported that Gen (ret) Sarath Fonseka will be court-martialled for offences carried out when he was either serving as the Army Commander or the Chief of Defence Staff under Section 57(1) of the Army Act.

The Act states that “a person subject to military law commits any offence and thereafter ceases to be a person subject to military law, he may be taken into and kept in military custody and be tried and punished for that offence by a Court Martial”

- Asian Tribune -