Is Avant Garde probe turning to be a

witch-hunt?

2015-11-16
aw and Order
Minister Tilak Marapana resigned last
week after an uproar in the Cabinet,
over his perceived pussyfooting on
the ongoing investigation into the floating armoury of the Avant Garde
Maritime Service Limited (AGMSL).
Mr. Marapanas only offence, it appears, that he earlier told Parliament
that the considered opinion of the Attorney General was that there was no
considerable and admissible evidence to institute a legal case against the
weapons that were found in the ship, MV Mahanuwara during a police raid.
The docked ship was raided at the Galle Harbour soon after the Presidential
election in January this year. (Last month, a second ship, MV Avant Garde
was raided when it returned to the Galle Harbour after a voyage in the Red
sea)
Mr. Marapana who himself was a former Attorney General and leading
lawyer stood by the AGs department, while some of the boisterous
members of his Cabinet and several others outside appeared to suggest

that the AG should cater to their whims and fancies.

It was not Mr. Marapana, but his opponents, who were interfering with the
case and by their action, trying to influence the AGs department.
Now, emboldened by their success, those very individuals want Justice
Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe removed, again because the latter too had
stood by the AGs department.

A rather interesting spectacle of washing dirty laundry in public is now

taking place as the government ministers Rajitha Senaratne, Wijeyadasa
Rajapakshe and former Army Chief Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka trade
flimsy allegations with each other.
However, the most disturbing of all, was a reported attempt to summon the
Attorney General before Parliament to explain why his department decided
not to institute a legal case against the weapons found in the Avant Gardes
floating armoury.
AGMSL was involved in a joint venture with the fully state-owned Rakna
Arakshaka Lanka Limited (RALL) to provide weapons and sea marshals for
the ships against maritime piracy.

The AGs department, after considering evidence submitted by the CID and
observations made by the Defence Ministry and Sri Lanka Navy, has
decided that there was no ground to take legal action against the AGMSL
under the Fire Arms Ordinance, Explosive Act or the Prevention of Terrorism
Act. CID has been advised to submit any evidence of corruption related to
the management of the company to the Commission to Investigate
Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. A separate probe into alleged
corruption and money laundering is now being undertaken by the Bribery
Commission.
AGMSL was providing private maritime companies with weapons, which
were issued to it by the RALL. Those weapons were to provide security to
ships against maritime piracy. Sri Lankan Navy provided the service until
2012, until it handed the business to AGMSL.
Now the government has decided to revoke the monopoly of the AGMSL.
The Navy has taken over the provision of weapons to private maritime
security companies. Under government orders, RALL has decided to
discontinue its engagement in maritime security.
Private Military Companies (PMC), a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide,
are not new to Sri Lanka. In the 80s, when much of the world shunned us
after the Black July, South African PMCs trained some specialized units of
the army. Maritime security firms have recently become a thriving industry
as despondent Somalies make sea piracy a multi-million dollar business.

"If the AGMSL and any government officials have flouted the law,
it needs to be investigated. However, the Attorney General has
decided that there were no admissible grounds for legal action.
Under the normal circumstance, the controversy which has
become an embarrassment for the new government would have
been laid to rest."
If the AGMSL and any government officials
have flouted the law, it needs to be
investigated. However, the Attorney
General has decided that there were no
admissible grounds for legal action. Under
the normal circumstance, the controversy
which has become an embarrassment for
the new government would have been laid
to rest.
However, this case is an exception due to
the involvement of one man: Gotabhaya
Rajapaksa.

A few of his opponents want to hound him - no matter the legal grounds for
such an action.
Therefore, mutual recrimination within the government ranks over the
Avant Garde probe is not just a power game among a few politicos. It is now
becoming a witch-hunt, which threatens to undermine the independence of
institutions that the government pledged to foster, one of which being the
judiciary.
Last week, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka raised concerns over what it
described as a spate of and growing vilification and personal attacks on
the members of the judiciary and Attorney Generals Department, and the
attempts to summon the AG before Parliament.
Sri Lankan politics is cheap. It has not changed much under the Yahapalana
government. The danger is that some politicians, in the government, in the
opposition and outside Parliament, tend to think that the Attorney General
should kow-tow to them.
Their attempts to vilify independent institutions and their office holders
bode ill for the future of our democracy. In fact, we should celebrate the
new found sense of independence in our judiciary. That the judiciary now
rules by the law, and not by the dictates of the self-interested politicos is an
admirable sign.

"A rather interesting spectacle of washing dirty laundry in public

is now taking place as the government ministers Rajitha
Senaratne, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe and former Army Chief Field
Marshal Sarath Fonseka trade flimsy allegations with each other."
Therefore, the top leaders of the government have a responsibility to rein in
their own ranks. The greatest feat of the new government, so far, has been
resurrecting independent institutions. Its leaders should not allow its ranks
to roll back that process. The integrity of those institutions should not be
weakened to achieve petty political and personal ends. It was not long ago
that a Chief Justice was impeached because she refused to issue rulings in
favour of the regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Some of the recent critics of
the judiciary and AGs department, in fact, placed their signatures in that
infamous impeachment motion - though many of them regret it now. Some
of them, may have a low esteem towards those independent organs of the
State. Their remarks betray those sentiments.
Of course, the public expect the government to investigate allegations of

corruption, excesses and abuses of power blamed on the previous regime.

However, that should be done through the due process of law, and not
through kangaroo courts or by influencing the judiciary and other
independent institutions.
After all, if we need Kangaroo courts, we could well have kept the former
regime in power. It was pretty good at it. We should celebrate the new
found independence of the judiciary and tell the self-interested naysayers
to be quiet!
Follow Ranga Jayasuriya @ Ranga Jayasuriya on Twitter
Posted by Thavam