SRI LANKA: Why are the

police allowed and

encouraged to lie?
by Basil Fernando-June 27, 2014
The video footage is fairly clear. First e see a tall !olice"an earing a hel"et
standing ith his ar" stretched toards the other side of the road. Then e see a
scooter sto!!ed #ust ne$t to hi". There is one "an sat on the scooter. %oo&ing closer,
e see that the !olice"an is carrying a !istol in his outstretched hand. The !istol is
directed toards so"ebody on the other side of the road. Then e see the rider of the
"otorbi&e stretching his hand out toards the !olice"an, in an obvious gesture telling
the !olice"an not to shoot.
%ater, e get to &no the story. The !olice"an shot so"ebody ho as on the other
side of the road. The !erson had been ta&en to a nearby hos!ital and there he died.
Then there co"es a story that the "an ho as shot had a shar! instru"ent in his
hand ith hich he as trying to hurt another !olice"an. Then there is a !icture of a
!olice"an being ta&en on a stretcher to a hos!ital. Then the story is that the "an as
shot not at the ti"e hen the video footage shos but eight "inutes later.
'o e loo& at a different incident. To young "en are sto!!ed by a !olice"an and
soon thereafter another grou! of !olice"en. (ne of those !olice"en shoot one of the
to "en on the "otorbi&e at !oint blan& range, ai"ing at their chest. The "an dies on
the s!ot.
)""ediately thereafter, the !olice !ut u! a barricade about 120 aay fro" the !lace
here the shooting ha!!ened. For the !ur!oses of further in*uiries, the !lace here
the shooting ha!!ened is su!!osed to be at this ne !lace here the barricade is.
There is a ne story+ the to !eo!le ere travelling on a "otorbi&e and, hen a
!olice"an signaled the" to sto!, they did not. )nstead, they tried to run over the
!olice"an and so the !olice"an shot, and that is ho the death is su!!osed to have
ha!!ened.
The above to scenes are not fro" a "ovie or a novel. ,ctual !eo!le are involved.
,ctual ounding ta&es !lace. ,ctual !eo!le die.
The !olice"en are alloed to erase all that is actual and factual. They are also alloed
to create fictions and "a&e u! hatever story they li&e.
This did not #ust ha!!en in these to incidents but thousands of ti"es day in and day
out. -uch falsehoods are ritten as case re!orts and !roduced in courts. ,nd of course
there is a sacred rule that no one should lie to the court. .es, but it/s not a rule for
everyone. The !olice are treated as an e$ce!tion. They can !roduce false re!orts. They
can !roduce affidavits ith false state"ents. They can lie fro" the itness bo$. 0o
"any !olice"en have been !unished by courts for !er#ury1 'one.
.et the la is that the !olice"en should &ee! their !oc&et noteboo&s ith the" and
faithfully rite don every detail on everything they do and on every observation they
"a&e. They are su!!osed to be involved in creating the actual narrative of cri"es and
these narratives are su!!osed to be brought to court by ay of indict"ents. The bases
for trials are these indict"ents. 0o is one to reconcile these to different roles1 (ne
role allos any &ind of lie2 in the other, their substantive role, they are su!!ose to be
guardians of la. 3ecently a "on& as charged for "a&ing false state"ents to the
!olice. 'o he has been re"anded. 0ere our interest is not in the truth of that case.
(ur interest is "erely to "a&e a contrast. The !olice"en throughout the country are
"a&ing u! stories in cases that ould otherise be "urders or other serious cri"es.
They file false affidavits to courts. They lie fro" the itness bo$. But none of the" are
brought to trial in the ay that this "on& has been brought to trial.
This is the reality that every -ri %an&an is confronted ith, including the 4resident of
-ri %an&a. 3ecently, the 5inister of Justice cried out that the ay the la enforce"ent
agencies ignored the la in the recent attac&s on 5usli"s "ade hi" feel asha"ed to
be a "e"ber of the govern"ent. -urely the 5inister of Justice &nos that it is not only
during race riots that the !olice and the -TF flout the la. 0oever, he has not shon
any sha"e to call hi"self the 5inister of Justice in those circu"stances.
4erha!s sha"e or any other e"otion do not have any !lace in a country here the la
enforce"ent officers are alloed to lie and are in fact lying al"ost all the ti"e.
6ideo Footage courtesy+ 'es First -ri %an&a
Object 1
4osted by Thava"