UPDATE (Sri Lanka): Man was acquitted of all the charges falsely framed by the Mahiyangana police 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is happy to inform you that Mr. A.M. Thilak Adhikari has been acquitted of all charges against him on 11 July 2006. He was falsely charged by the Mahiyangana police after refusing to pay the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of traffic, grocery bill of Rs. 5,300 in December 2004 (See further: UA-06-2005). Thank you for your great support on this case. We also encourage you to write to the National Police Commission and Inspector General of Police to take immediate disciplinary and legal action against the responsible officers of the Mahiyangana police station, who misused their power by fabricating charges against an innocent man in revenge for not paying the bribe. A sample letter is attached below.

To briefly remind you about the case, on 18 December 2004, the Mahiyangana police randomly stopped Mr. Adhikari’s vehicle and accused him of having tinted windows on his vehicle. The police then confiscated his driver’s license and instructed him to come to the police station. When the victim went to the police station to get his driver’s license back, the OIC-traffic of the Mahiyangana police insisted that he pay the officers grocery bill, amounting to Rs. 5,300 (about US$ 54) at the Royal Store in Mahiyangana in return for his licence. However, Mr. Adhikari refused to do so and left there without having his licence.

Later, Mr. Adhikari contacted Janasansadaya, a local human rights organisation located almost 200 kilometres away from his residence and lodged complaints to the relevant authorities regarding the misuse of police powers and bribery attempt, with the help of this organisation. In revenge, the police slammed Mr. Adhikari with a falsely fabricated traffic offence and hauled him before the Mahiyangana Magistrate’s Court. From the inception of the case, Mr. Adhikari was coerced by the police, the local Bar and court officials to plead guilty to the offence, pay the fine and go home. Mr. Adhikari resisted these pressures and insisted on pleading ‘not guilty’. After realising that the victim would not be able to get justice by retaining a local lawyer in the case, Janasansadaya, together with the help of the AHRC, assisted him in retaining a Colombo-based lawyer for his case.

Accordingly, the case began in the Mahiyangana Magistrates Court (case no.: 32923) in April 2005 but dragged on for over one year. During this period, the Colombo-based lawyer had to travel to Mahiyangana for over 10 court appearances. However, on most of these court dates, the case was postponed due to the refusal of the Mahiyangana police to produce various official documents pertaining to the case. The court finally allowed these documents only after Mr. Adhikari’s counsel made lengthy and repeated legal arguments before two Magistrates (The first Magistrate was transferred). Finally on 11 July 2006, the court gave a judgment in favour of Mr. Adhikari and acquitted him of all charges. Ironically, the total expenditure for the case estimated about Rs. 300,000 (USD 290). While welcoming the progress of Mr. Adhikar’s case, it is not surprising at all for us to know that the majority of Sri Lankan people living in the country, where misuse of police power and a dysfunctional judicial system prevail.  Often, people simply keep their mouth shut and decide to pay the bribe, when they face similar problem like Mr. Adhikari.

We therefore urge your intervention to break this brutal practice of the misuse of police power. Please write to the National Police Commission (NPC) of Sri Lanka, Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-Legal Section to take prompt disciplinary and legal action against the errant Mahiyangana police officers responsible for the bribery attempt and fabrication of charges against an innocent man.

To support this appeal, please click: 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER