BASL President hounded again

The President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) complained to the police again about continual intimidation by men in plainclothes at his office in Colombo 3 yesterday.

In two separate incidents, men inplaiclothes had hung around Mr. Jayasuriya’s office on Flower road, Colombo 3 at about 1.30 pm and again about 5.30 pm yesterday, the BASL president said in a complaint to the Cinnamon Gardens police.

In the first incident, an unidentified man had waited at the place where he usually got off his vehicle near his office. However Mr. Jayasuriya had not used his vehicle yesterday. Having seen that Mr. Jayasuriya was not in the vehicle, the man had gone towards the entrance of the office and waited there for a while and then left. “According to an eye witness he had walked towards the Public Library and then got into a red coloured unregistered car,” Mr. Jayasuriya said in his complaint.

In the second incident at about 5.30 pm three men in plainclothes had come on two motorbikes and waited in front of his office.

On questioning they had said that they were attached to police force and were giving protection to the BASL president. Mr. Jayasuriya had informed the police about this incident too.

“This type of incident involving security personnel in civils could be for a legal purpose. And it could also happen for an illegal purpose,” Mr. Jayasuriya told Daily Mirror describing his harrowing experience.

“How can an unregistered vehicle move about in the heart of the city in broad daylight when there are so many traffic policemen about?” Mr. Jayasuriya asked.

Regarding a similar incident on July 15, the BASL chief had lodged a complaint with the Cinnamon Gardens police complaining that he had been followed by two men on a motorbike for about four hours. (Susitha R. Fernando)