BASL worried about break in confidence in legal system

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) said if the telephone conversation between the interdicted solicitor general Dilrukshi Dias Wickramasinghe and former head of the Avant-Garde Security firm, Nissanka Senadhipathi was found to be authentic, it would raise serious concerns about public confidence in the legal system.

It said undoubtedly such concerns would include the questionable prosecutions instituted by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIAOBC).

BASL President Kalinga Indatissa in a communiqué said BASL attention was drawn to the contents of an audiotape being circulated in the social media and the huge publicity it had drawn.

"Our attention is also drawn to a request made by the Attorney General to the Public Services Commission, for an inquiry in this regard. It appears that the request for the inquiry has been made upon admission of the telephone conversation she had with Senadhipathi," he said. "The audio conversation at least establishes and or suggests that Ms. Wickremesinghe, a former director-general attached to the Bribery Commission and currently serving in the onerous office of the Solicitor General was involved in a telephone conversation with a person who was under-investigated by the BC as a suspect. In our view, the conversation raises serious concerns relating to the independence and the impartiality of some investigations and prosecutions during her tenure.”

Mr. Indatissa said it was an accepted norm in the legal profession that prosecutors should not come in contact with the suspects and that defence counsel of persons suspected of an offence should not come into contact with witnesses for the prosecution. This ethical practice is considered to be a sacred principle within our legal system," he said. Quote -- Our attention is drawn to a request made by the AG to the PSC for an inquiry in this regard. It appears that the request for the inquiry has been made upon admission of the telephone conversation she had with Senadhipathi (Sandun A Jayasekera)