Respect for law and order essential - EDITORIAL

There was a time in the recent past when ruling party politicians were considered to be above the law.

When a British national was killed and his Russian girlfriend was sexually abused in public by a group led by a local politician, even Prince Charles had to intervene to force the authorities to arrest the suspects and it took almost one year for the long arm of the law to reach the culprits.  Now the ruling party politicians are being arrested, sometimes after police dragging feet for days as in the case involving the Colombo District UNP parliamentarian Hirunika Premachandra. 

However, when it comes to the police there seem to be delays since it took more than five days for the police to carry out the order issued by the Embilipitiya Magistrate to arrest an ASP, an OIC and several other police officers in connection with the death of a youth during a clash with the police in Embilipitiya. On the other hand police have not given any reason for not following the Magistrate’s order immediately.  If the suspects were otherwise they would have used even minimum force to apprehend them if there was any protest.  There are very important issues involved in this matter. One main matter to ponder is the public image of the police that is very essential in maintaining law and order in the country.  

There have been several incidents where the image of the police was damaged. During a HNDA students demonstration at Ward Place, Colombo, many students were baton charged by the police and there was a photograph of a policeman with a raised baton aimed at a female student. Later another police officer told at a press briefing that the former was trying to lift a student who had fallen on the ground.  

Then there was the confession purportedly made by a suspect nicknamed “kondaya” which later turned out to be not correct.  Then comes the Embilipitiya police saying that their personnel had to go to the place where the death of the youth took place following calls from the neighbours over police emergency number 119, complaining about unbearable noise. However, the Minister in charge of Police, Minister of Law and Order Sagala Ratnayake told Parliament later that it was the police themselves that had given calls over the emergency number 119.   Police are an inseparable apparatus in safeguarding democracy. People do not have anyone to turn to other than the police in times of emergency and disaster.

Therefore the public image of the police is essential in maintaining law and order. If there is a situation where people do not respect the police, it would be very difficult for the police to carry out their duty.  The other issue involved in the Embilipitiya incident is, the respect to the Courts of Law and Judges. That is more important than the public image of the police. Recently we saw several incidents in respect of contempt of Court. 

The General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena  Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera and several other monks have been remanded for their alleged unruly behaviour within and outside the Homagama Magistrate’s Court. Like in that instance, the law enforcement agencies should act diligently and apprehend those responsible without delay.  The Police sometimes might have reasonable grounds for delaying in carrying out the Embilipitya Magistrate’s order or to say that the order was wrong or unfair. Even then there are legal procedures to follow to place their point before the Court. Respect for police as well as the Courts are essential elements in maintaining law and order of the country.