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Every individual has right to defence counsel: BASL President
Sixteen suspects including the father of the four-year-old boy, Dinidu Yashen, who was abducted in July, were remanded till September 30 on Friday after they were produced in courts on charges of attacking and damaging vehicles of lawyers representing the suspect kidnappers. The suspects were produced before the Galgamuwa Magistrate Ruwan Dammika Dissanayake after a case was filed by the affected lawyers following the alleged incident that took place on August 20.
On the day of the hearing, the court complex was packed with lawyers, among whom were Sri Lanka Bar Association President Upul Jayasuriya and his deputy Nalin Edirisinghe.
In a brief statement to the media Mr. Jayasuriya said the BASL vehemently condemned the alleged attack on the lawyers on August 20, adding that every suspect was entitled to the fundamental right to be represented in court.
Mr. Edirisinghe said the Constitution provided for a suspect to have access to counsel and any deviation from this practice would create a bad precedent and therefore such acts had to be nipped in the bud.
A frenzied mob is alleged to have attacked the lawyers and hurled abuse at them when they defended the suspects in the kidnapping case at the Galgamuwa Courts complex on August 20.
Subsequently the affected lawyers had filed action in Court and 16 persons, including the father of the kidnap victim, were arrested.
Four-year-old Dinidu Yashen was allegedly dragged out of his home on the night of July 28 by a group of persons after they had attacked the toddler’s parent’s with a knife.
The abductors subsequently demanded a ransom of Rs. 10 million from the parents for the release of the boy.
The child was later rescued unharmed in a sting operation carried out by undercover sleuths of the Criminal Investigation Department.
(LB)