The Gerard Perera murder case came for further hearing on December 1, 2006 before the Negombo High Court. This case is being heard by a judge specially appointed to hear the case as another case relating to the torture of Gerard Perera is being heard before the permanent High Court judge of Negombo.
When the case was called before the permanent High Court judge the Deputy Solicitor General, (DSG) Vigith Malalgoda, made submission to court stating that he had been informed earlier during the week that the Honourable Chief Justice has made order for this case to be returned to the permanent High Court judge instead of continuing before the special judge who has already partly heard this case. The DSG submitted that when this case was originally brought before the predecessor to the present High Court judge of Negombo he on behalf of the state informed court that since there is another case relating to the torture of Gerard Perera by some police officers heard before the permanent High Court judge it would not be appropriate for the new murder case also to be heard before the same judge. This is particularly from the point of view of character evidence which may prejudice the accused in the case. The court accordingly made a request for the refixing of the murder case before a special judge and on that basis the case has proceeded for some time now.
The DSG submitted that perhaps the present order to return the case to the permanent High Court judge may be due to the unawareness of how the case originally came to be transferred to a special judge.
The defence counsel for the 1st accused also supported the application of the DSG and stated that the case needs to be continued before the same judge who has partly heard the case. The defence counsel for the 2nd accused submitted that if the case is to be heard before a new judge he will request for the recalling of the evidence of several witnesses who had already given evidence. The High Court judge stated that the case will be returned for further instructions on the basis of the submission made by the DSG. The case was refixed for January 11, 2007.
The Asian Human Rights Commission has learned that the family members of the victim Gerard Perera are disturbed by this turn of events. They have not been informed of any reason as to why there should be this sudden change of judges. They also believe that it may be due to some misunderstanding. Meanwhile one witness in the case, who is a driver of some Supreme Court vehicles, has told the family members that he was instrumental in getting the judge changed. The family is afraid that the change will affect the trial adversely. They are also concerned that their security will be jeopardized due to further delays of the trial.
The Asian Human Rights Commission is shocked and disturbed by the turn of events in this well known case of murder of a torture victim. The inquiries have already revealed that the purpose of murder was to silence Gerard Perera before giving evidence in the torture case against some police officers. These police officers were still working at their jobs despite of being interdicted before the High Court on torture charges when this murder took place. The Asian Human Rights Commission is of the view that in the absence of any valid reason for the transfer of this case such transfer will fundamentally affect the fair trial and will cause disillusionment among the people who wish to find redress for crimes allegedly done by state officers.
