Junta (Burmese) Rajapakse’s book

Rajapakse the lawyer for Lalith Kotelawela (LK) was seen as a disinterested and concerned citizen not many moons ago. He then decided to appear for LK the virtual owner in the Golden Key Credit Card scandal that rocked the nation.

A fraud running into about 40 billion rupees is alleged, making many middle class people paupers and destitute while exposing the greed of the filthy rich Columbian snobs. He then decided in an interview with the Lakbimanews on 14th Feb 2010 to exhibit his acquaintance or otherwise with the law in general and of military law specifically with the Burmese junta also thrown in.

Readers should be thankful and better educated about JR after his lessons.

We are first told that the arrest of a former General who is another JR client is actually ‘abduction’ and not an arrest. So can JR let readers know how an arrest can be effected by the Military Police when the person concerned resists with hands and feet and with aggressive ungentlemanly language to boot when informed he was to be arrested and why.

Apparently the arrest was also ‘undignified and humiliating' as though arrests can be much else if resisted.

JR says that the government allowed the arrested person’s wife and himself to see that person after 22 hours (including 8 night hours) only because the ‘international community (IC), the UN and the Indian Prime Minister ‘intervened. Obviously more time had been spent on contacting the ‘world’ as JR describes his contacts than appealing the local authorities, contributing to the delay presumably. Food from the Navy officers’ wardroom was available but not consumed as the person was ‘not sure about it’. The charge sheet had apparently not been delivered for over 4 days which is a ‘HR violation’. According to JR, the Supreme Court ‘accepted that position’ and allowed the case to ‘continue’, which speaks well for that court from which not only JR can take comfort.

JR challenges the notion that the arrested person was given ‘all facilities’ by querying what the facilities were, saying ‘he was treated as any other prisoner’. However he quickly changes his tune by also conceding that ‘even if he was treated like a prince’ (so that’s also likely since he is in the Navy Commander’s own apartment and has 16 naval men including officers and an army medical team at his disposal) ‘what’s the point of it when his freedom is taken away’?

True. He however says it was ‘for no reason’. So JR has no grouse if some one's freedom is taken away if a reason is given as it must have. If there’s no reason as stated by JR his job as expectant defence lawyer should be a piece of cake.

JR’s knowledge of the intricacies of section 57 of the Army Act is beyond belief or imagination whether he is truly a lawyer or not. According to him “Three offences are detailed in article 57 of the Army Act (AA); they are deserting, entering the service using forged documents and mutiny/desertion”. He goes on to ask confidently since there was no opposition whether ‘the General has done any of these? And if he has where the evidence is?’He adds without supporting facts that “any officer suspected of violating Article 57 will not be released from the service but the President … released Gen Fonseka from the service by special gazette … (in 2009)”, making out speciously that there was no offence committed before.

To begin with the section referred to is not an ‘article and it is 57(1) of the AA and not 57. It states of a person accused ’provided that he shall not be tried after the lapse of 6 months from the date of the commission of such offence unless such offence is the offence of mutiny, desertion or fraudulent enlistment”. Surely what this means is that all offences under the AA other than the 3 mentioned have to be tried within 6 months whereas the 3 mentioned above are not time barred in any way for obvious reasons i.e.; evidence of taking part in a mutiny (organizing/planning/supporting/ concealing ) may be uncovered well after 6 months, a deserter may be arrested also after 6 months if not years of the commission of the offence (he may have gone abroad as is often the case) and fraudulent enlistment may take many years not months to be uncovered.

It is astounding that any lawyer is unable to understand the above. It is incredible that any lawyer can misinterpret the same section, diabolically or otherwise to state in public that what it means is contrary to what it truly means and that the very 3 offences that are not time barred are the ones that can/must be tried under section 57(1) of the AA. More than Kotelawela or anyone else the public must be warned.

His famous last lines could be with reference to some ministers who spoke on the same subject ‘the above mentioned government spokesmen are not lawyers. They are just misguided individuals... they have only managed to show their ignorance regarding judiciary (sic) matters …. the government has no idea what it is doing..: Is JR actually speaking about himself?

JR goes on ‘unafraid and unbowed’ if not unashamed.”We have told the government (this time not the IC, UN and other busy bodies) that… the Army Commander cannot be tried in a military tribunal… he is above a military tribunal. The President can sack the army commander if ….. he has breached the Army Act. This is indeed a Solomon come to judgment. No hope for COPE. Pathetic.

So if the army commander who is also under military law but “above a military tribunal” according to JR, commits any offence under the Act which includes treason, mutiny, murder, rape , cowardice, fraud, theft, robbery, the only remedy is ‘sacking’. That would be some army and some punishment forget military discipline, law and justice either according to JR or as he says ‘we’ according to the ‘axis’ view point.

Tying himself in tight knots despite his propagating ‘kokatath thaile’ (remedy for all ills) sacking of the army commander who has already retired, JR says that only higher rank officers can try another officer. He wants to know “so where can we find the judges” (for the 4 star General).

He gratuitously recommends the civil courts. He presumes this will give legitimacy to the government’s actions. He must believe that the law, in this case the Army Act, is an ass.

Fortunately within the army there are no asses that pursue the legal option. If there is to be a court martial the members who sit on it will be legally qualified. ’Sacking’ is an option of the clueless. This was not an option to lesser mortals in the army.

According to JR who strives hard to show punditry, the SL Army has suddenly become politicized when it “used to be apolitical institution until a few months ago’. This he must tell Tilvin Silva who was privy to receive telephone calls in October 2009 from the Washington Vihare on what should be done to the US Homeland Security request to volunteer details of hearsay evidence on army ‘white flag’ conspiracies.

Appearing to be of recent birth, JR vouches that the “… a number of army officers have been removed from duty…..This is the first time in recent …. that such a purge took place”. So he grants that such actions did take place before. One does not have to go back to 1966 and 1977, 2005-9 would do. He must ask his client who was responsible for making the army political, before the BBC does.

JR is dead chuffed by the Mahanayake’s protest not about the annual 1500 murders, 2000 rapes, suicides (mainly Buddhists) being double the number of deaths in the war, 2000 deaths in 1.8 million road traffic accidents, the trauma of the NOK of those 60,000 who died in the war and the suffering of those disabled and wounded in battle, the one million IDPs and the mobs challenging the Supreme Courts to acquit their man but about throwing norms of justice to the winds. Even Huckhim who laid the foundation stone for the Oruvil hospital went to see them.

According to JR the ‘whole world ‘is watching little SL. Is it with spy in the sky US satellites? Why not too as there are no ODIs, T20s and World Cups even if there is Haiti and the daily killings in Afghanistan and Pakistan if not Iraq, Sudan and Somalia. SL is then a place everyone ‘in the world’ who has nothing else to do is watching-according to JR and the axis.

According to JR ”No one” (in SL?) believes the result of the presidential election. They are having a time believing JR and his axis partners too.

According to JR, the IC and the UN supposedly told the SL Government what to do to satisfy JR and the axis. He has forgotten it was the same SL government that did not turn a hair during the climatic stages of Eelam 4 war when the IC and UN tried relentlessly to intervene to save the leaders of the LTTE. So an inspired JR metaphorically hops across to Myanmar when one would have expected him to go to the Washington Vihare to get what the solace he wanted- a stunning condemnation of the government of SL.

He states that the SL “government is doing something straight out of the books of the Burmese Military junta, arresting the main opposition candidate after the election on false charges”.

What JR, who finds it difficult to unravel sections of the Army Act, understands about any junta and not just one limited to the Burmese is mystifying. In Myanmar, Aung San Soo Ki, a civilian won the election like civilian MR did in SL. The defeated person was a General. It was the General aided by his junta who arrested the winner and over turned the victory of the people. Think hard about it JR. SL just escaped Myanmar’s fate. Go back to your junta and the agents provocateur who wanted the army to mutiny. They are going to have you for breakfast soon.

- Asian Tribune -