Protecting state witnesses, a need of the hour

However, after a lapse of 12 years since his assassination, the incumbent government had finally managed to reveal certain faces behind the Thajudeen murder case

Recent revelations regarding the murder of former Havelocks Sports Club rugby captain Wasim Thajudeen are both shocking and disturbing. With missing information and various attempts to hide evidence, people were forced to believe that it was a mere accident caused as a result of drunk driving,  until former President Maithripala Sirisena assumed power by reminding voters that he would do justice to the murders of Sunday Leader Editor-in-Chief Lasantha Wickrematunga, journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda  and Wasim Thajudeen. 

Submissions made by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to the then Colombo Additional Magistrate Nishantha Peiris in July 2015 indicated that Thajudeen’s death was not accidental, but a murder. The CID informed Magistrate Peiris that the investigations conducted so far had revealed that Thajudeen’s teeth had been broken, the bones in the pelvic region also broken and his neck pierced with a sharp instrument prior to his death. The CID added that muscles in his legs had been cut with a piece of broken glass. 

The CID further said the government analyst’s report and the postmortem report on the death of the ruggerite appeared to be contradictory,  and that the death was not an accident but murder. In 2016, Magistrate Pieris ruled that Thajudeen was murdered and ordered the CID to arrest any suspects in connection to the crime. 

But unsurprisingly, the matters were buried under the carpet. 

However, after a lapse of 12 years since his assassination, the incumbent government had finally managed to reveal certain faces behind the Thajudeen murder case. The government should be applauded for their attempts to ensure independent investigations into high profile crimes that had happened over the past. In fact,  this had been one of the promises in the National People’s Power manifesto. 

Addressing the media Acting Police Spokesman Minura Senarath said that ‘upon close observation of CCTV footage, one of the suspects linked to the murder had been identified. Information revealed during interrogations indicate that the suspect was Anura Vidanagamage alias ‘Kajja’ who was recently killed in a shooting in Middeniya along with his two children,  and that he had been in the vehicle that followed the late rugby player just moments before his death. Such close observations of CCTV footage should have happened long ago,  but at least people are now convinced that investigations have fallen onto the right track. Interrogations have also revealed the exchange of weapons that were used in the killing of Vidanagamage,  drawing links to the larger network of criminals.

It’s now clear that he was a key witness to this crime, it  but may be that  the perpetrators made sure that he  killed by the time the Police revealed more details regarding Thajudeen’s murder. Perhaps the government should now make it a priority to provide maximum protection for key witnesses of these cases including suspects who are in the custody of the Police. 

Sri Lanka has had a culture of killing key witnesses, sometimes by the same perpetrators involved in these crimes, in order to hide evidence. A classic example is Thajudeen’s case where at one point his body parts which were collected for examination too,  went missing! 

Sri Lanka’s Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act (No. 04 of 2015 and subsequent amendments in Act No. 10 of 2023) mandates assistance and protection for victims and witnesses. Section 9 of the Act states that witness shall be entitled to protection against any real or possible harm, threat, intimidation, reprisal or retaliation resulting from such witnesses having provided information or communication or lodged a complaint. 

On numerous occasions, state witnesses had been shot dead by unidentified gunmen. Neither Vidanagamage nor Thajudeen could be resurrected, but if the government wants to fulfill its promise of bringing perpetrators of high profile crimes to book, it should firstly look at giving maximum protection to individuals such as Vidanagamage irrespective of their notoriety.

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