Lawyers Collective condemn attack on Wanninayake

The Lawyers’ Collective yesterday strongly condemned what they called the attempted assassination of attorney-at-law Gunaratne Wanninayake and urges the Government to take all possible measures to prevent further such attacks. Wanninayake is an outspoken critic of the impeachment process and the Convener of the Free March movement, which is a constituent group of the Lawyers’ Collective.

The Lawyers Collective said that the Government was attempting to instigate adverse public opinion against lawyers and judges through its propaganda machinery. “Since the impeachment motion was moved in Parliament, they have particularly been targeting the lawyer activists in the network of the Lawyers Collective. The continuous verbal abuses on the lawyers in some of the state run media exposes lawyers for physical attacks,” the Lawyers Collective said in a statement.

The statement said that the Rule of Law has deteriorated to such an extent that none of the law enforcement authorities were capable of investigating into or apprehending the attackers. “The Lawyers Collective urges the authorities to conduct an impartial investigation into the Wanninayake incident while assuring protection for lawyers, particularly those who stand up for independent Judiciary,” it said.

“An armed group had attempted to attack Convener of Free March, lawyer Gunaratne Wanninayake, near his home at Pirivena Road in Boralesgamuwa yesterday. He said that as he was returning from work, four men had ambushed him, told him to put down his shutters, threatened him and tried to attack him. On a complaint to 119 police emergency at 4.59 p.m., a team from Boralesgamuwa visited the scene and started an investigation. Wanninayake is one of the key figures, along with Lawyers Collective that has worked against the impeachment of the Chief Justice” the statement added.