The Pursuit And Prosecution Of Those Guilty Of Crimes Against The Nation

By Emil van der Poorten -September 29, 2014

Emil van der Poorten

Among the web comments on a piece I did for Colombo Telegraph titled, “Joining the stampede“ was one from “Don Quixote” calling for listing, pursuit and prosecution of those guilty of crimes against the nation, with the lists being compiled from now.

I was intrigued by the suggestion for the primary reason that it brought to mind the work that Simon Wiesenthal did after the end of World War II and until his death in 2005 at the ripe old age of 97.  That crusade had, as probably its most publicized success, the spiriting out of South America, trial and execution of Adolf Eichmann who was guilty of crimes against humanity that were without precedent.

The closest and probably most unfortunate exercise in Sri Lanka similar to what is being suggested was the law and the tribunal created specifically to punish those accused in the abortive coup of the nineteen-sixties by Felix Dias Bandaranaike. The fact that, ultimately, all the accused were released had less to do with justice being served than the rejection of Felix’s attempt to wreak vengeance on the conspirators whom he saw as the enemies of the Sirimavo Dias Bandaranaike government in which he was one of the leading lights.  It was one of those rare instances where the malice that drives legislation proposed by an eminence grise, such as Felix was, came unstuck.

What is appealing about Don Quixote’s suggestion on the Colombo Telegraph is the fact that it is commonsensical, to say the least, and will certainly serve the justice that needs to return to Sri Lanka.

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