A story doing the rounds in Colombo's legal fraternity speaks about the rapid increase in sweep ticket sellers in the city. Whether a joke or otherwise, that is where criminal elements or those suspected of such activity have found a new vocation to avoid the Police.
The IMF loan has become a political football which is kicked hither and thither with only political goals in sight. The economics of the loan is surely the loser when political scores are the main concern of the players.
Almost four years since emergency regulations were imposed following the assassination of former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in August 2005, the situation in the country has undergone a dramatic change with the military defeat of the LTTE.
So, if counsel who appear for persistently thorn-in-the-side newspapers or defend terrorist suspects are labeled as traitors, what label may we pin on lawyers who are 'handsomely retained' (as the legal parlance goes) by errant arms of the state military apparatus to cover up extra judicial killings?
