| Ambepitiya seems to have done for Sri Lanka what Theo van Gogh is doing for Holland... |
Following the murder of the respected High Court judge, Sarath Ambepitiya, here in Colombo on Friday, Sri Lanka has decided to revert to the system of carrying out death sentences with effect from Saturday. Though the death sentence exists in the criminal law of the country, such a sentence has not been carried out since 1976. A release from the Presidential Secretariat said that the death sentence would be handed down for murder, rape and narcotics dealings. An eight-member, high-powered committee, would revamp the criminal laws of the country to make them effective against rising crime. The committee would be required to submit its report within four weeks.
Sarath Ambepitiya, who was killed at his doorstep by two 9 mm pistol wielding assailants, was known to have been a fearless judge. He had sentenced the LTTE supremo, Velupillai Prabhakaran, to 200 years' rigorous imprisonment for masterminding the bombing of the Central Bank in 1996, in which 91 innocent people were killed. Ambepitiya had given a tough judgement in the case of the senseless slaughter of about 40 young Tamil LTTE suspects by a Sinhala mob in Bindunuwewa. He had also sentenced high ranking Sri Lanka Air Force officers who had indulged in a murderous assault on Iqbal Athas, the Defence Correspondent of The Sunday Times in Colombo. |