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TAMIL
NATION LIBRARY: Eelam
 Assassination of a Prime Minister
The Bandaranaike Murder Case
Lucian G. Weeramantry
Published 1969
- ISBN-10: 0853210039
ISBN-13: 978-0853210030
[see also
The King Maker & the Errand Boy
- Excerpts from the Concluding Address by
Nadesan Satyendra, Counsel for the 5th Accused,
Inspector Newton Perera
in the Bandaranaike Assassination Case, and
Sachi Sri Kantha: S.W.R.D.
Bandaranaike Assassination -
Revisited after 50 years:
part 1: Politics
-
part 2: Forensics -
Part 3: Theatrics and Economics
About the Author -
About the Book -
The Verdict:
Concluding Chapter
About the Author:
Lucian G. Weeramantry, born 1923 in Colombo, was called to the Ceylon Bar in
1946 and practised as an Advocate till 1962. He is also a Barrister-at-Law
of Gray's Inn and an Honours Graduate in History of the University of
London. He represented his country at several international governmental and
non-governmental conferences. He is now (1969) Senior
Legal Officer of the International Commission of Jurists, which has its
headquarters in Geneva. Author of several articles on legal topics, he also
edits the Digest of Judicial Decisions on Aspects of the Rule of Law, which
has been a regular feature of the Journal of the International Commission of
Jurists.
About the Book: It is
rarely that persons accused of assassinating or conspiring to assassinate a
high political personage, let alone a Prime Minister, have been given the
benefit of a full and fair trial conforming to the established canons of
judicial procedure. It is rarer still to find a trial that discloses a story
so full of intrigue, mystery and doubt and so packed with facts more
improbable than fiction.
It is doubtless a credit to the administration of justice in Ceylon that
persons accused of a crime of this nature could expect the same sort of
trial as a person accused of a crime against an ordinary citizen, and that
it was possible for lawyers to appear for the accused and to argue the
points in their favour without fear of political or professional
consequences.
This book is written in such a manner as to highlight the sensational
features of the story of Bandaranaike's assassination as unfolded by the
witnesses and to hold the reader's interest to the end. As it caters to the
general reader and not only to lawyers, it has been divested of all legal
technicalities, except such as are essential to follow developments at the
trial of the five accused before the Supreme Court of Ceylon.
The accused presented a curious combination. The first was a high priest,
the second a politician, the third a motor mechanic cum actor, the fourth,
whom the author defended, a Buddhist monk and the fifth an inspector of
police. The lady Minister of Health in the Bandaranaike Cabinet, who had
been the sixth accused at the magisterial inquiry, was discharged before the
trial.
The trial lasted nearly three months, 97 witnesses were heard and the
proceedings ran into over 3500 pages of typescript.
The book, which consists of 44 chapters and 312 pages, opens with the
scene at the Prime Minister's residence on the morning of September 25th,
1959, the day on which Mr. Bandaranaike was shot. Chapter 2 gives the reader
a character sketch of Mr. Bandaranaike, drawn against the political, social
and economic background of Ceylon. The succeeding chapters deal with the
gripping story of the conspiracy and the shooting as told in Court, while
the final chapters are devoted to the addresses of counsel, the judge's
charge and the jury's verdict.
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The Verdict
- Concluding Chapter
Never in its history had the precincts of the Supreme Court
witnessed such crowds as it did on May 10th, 1961, the day of
the verdict, and on the two days thereafter, when the Court sat
listening to the final statements of the accused. From far and
near people came in thousands to witness the outcome of a case,
which had been the most interesting topic of discussion in the
country for several months. Unable to find standing
accommodation in the Court or even in its spacious corridors,
they filled the court gardens and the streets around. The scores
of policemen on duty had no easy task controlling the immense
crowd.
The jury had retired at 12.10 p.m. For the countless numbers
that stayed on, foregoing even their lunch for fear of losing
their vantage positions in the courtroom or in the corridors, it
was a long wait indeed for the jury's return. The courtroom was
filled with whispered exchanges of views on the possible
verdicts. Three full hours of suspense passed by with no
indication as to when the jury was likely to conclude its
deliberations. Then, suddenly, there was an announcement that
the jury was ready to return. Soon afterwards, the jurymen were
seen walking up in single file behind the mace-bearer along the
verandah leading from their secret chamber to the Court. As they
re-occupied their seats one by one in the jury box, everybody
seemed to be studying the faces of the seven men, who were to
make known in a moment the fate which their decisions had
ordained for the five men in the dock.
It was all attention in the re-assembled Court when, in reply
to the Clerk of Assize, the Foreman of the Jury announced that
the jury were unanimously agreed upon their verdicts in respect
of Rev. Buddharakkitha, the first accused; H. P.
Jayawardena, the second accused; Anura de Silva, the third
accused; and Rev. Somarama, the fourth accused. They were,
however divided in their verdict in respect of Newton Perera,
the fifth accused.
By their unanimous verdict, said the foreman, they found
Buddharakkitha, Jayawardena and Somarama guilty of the offence
of conspiracy to murder and found Somarama guilty in addition of
the offence of murder.
By their unanimous verdict they found Anura de Silva not
guilty of any offence. By a divided verdict of 5 to 2, they
found Newton Perera not guilty of any offence.
After the foreman had signed the verdict of the jury, His
Lordship addressed the accused as follows:
" You, Mapitigama Buddharakkitha, by the unanimous verdict of
the jury, have been found guilty of conspiring to kill Mr.
Bandaranaike, the then Prime Minister, in pursuance of which
conspiracy the jury holds that this murder was committed. I do
not wish to harrow your feelings any further than to say that,
being a Buddhist myself, I never thought I would have to perform
the painful task of passing sentence of death upon a Buddhist
monk. The verdict of the jury carries with it its own
condemnation. Apart from the enormity of the crime you have
committed, you have by your conduct defiled a most sacred place
of worship, the Kelaniya Temple, and I feel that the jury must
have believed the claim of the prosecution that you were the
chief architect of this terrible crime. Even at the risk of
telling my fellow Buddhists something that must be quite
apparent to them, let me say that you stand convicted by the
unanimous verdict of your fellowmen of breaking the first
precept of your religion in an awful fashion, a precept which
you undertook to guard and honour when you first put on that
hallowed robe.
" You, H. P. Jayawardena, have just heard the unanimous
verdict of the jury that you too were a party to the conspiracy,
which sent a man so beloved by his people to an untimely end.
There is nothing further that I need to say to you.
" You, Anura de Silva, have just heard from the foreman's
lips that you have not been proved guilty of the crime with
which you are charged and, in accordance with our law, you are
hereby acquitted and discharged. But in leaving that dock,
please remember that it will be advisable for you to keep
henceforth the company of people of your own status in life. You
may go now.
" You, Talduwa Somarama, have also heard the verdict of the
jury. You, who appear to have been the instrument of the
conspirators, wore a hallowed robe yourself at the time of the
commission of this crime. There appears to be some streak of
conscience left in you because, unlike Buddharakkitha, you did
not appear in this Court in your robes. You have been defended
by counsel, who has throughout these long and arduous
proceedings exhibited towards your case a devotion which has
been the admiration of everyone in this Court. But having regard
to the strength of the evidence against you, there has been, in
my view, no counsel yet born who could have saved you.
" By a divided verdict the jury has found you, Newton Perera,
not guilty. You owe your life to the labours of your counsel.
You, on your own showing, are guilty of conduct unworthy of a
police officer. You should not disgrace the police force by
remaining in it a second longer. You are acquitted and
discharged and you may leave the Court.
" Having regard to the verdict against you, Mapitigama
Buddharakkitha, the sentence to be passed is not in my
discretion, but is fixed unalterably by the law. That sentence
is the sentence of death. But the law requires, before
pronouncing that sentence on you, that I ask you at this stage
whether you have anything to say why sentence of death should
not be pronounced against you. If you choose to say anything
now, it will be recorded and forwarded to His Excellency the
Governor-General, in whom the prerogative of mercy is vested.
But whatever you say will not enable me to stay the
pronouncement of the sentence. "
Buddharakkitha: " Can I make a very long statement at this
stage ? "
Court : " You have the right to make a statement at this
stage and you can take as much time as you wish to in exercising
that right. "
Buddharakkitha then made a lengthy statement protesting his
innocence. He said that, at the time this murder was committed,
he had a large number of enemies and opponents in the country,
particularly the leaders of the leftist parties. He was the
object of jealousy and hatred on account of the power and
influence he wielded. Far from having been the architect of a
conspiracy, he had been the unfortunate victim of one. He then
plunged into a detailed analysis of the personal and political
motives which, according to him, prompted various powerful
persons and groups in the country to conspire
against him and concluded, " These conspirators have achieved
their purpose. Let them rejoice. Time will bring justice. Let us
see what the future holds. I thank Your Lordship for listening
to what I have had to say. "
Jayawardena, when similarly addressed by Court, made an even
longer statement than Buddharakkitha, proclaiming his innocence.
Beginning late in the afternoon of May 10th, he concluded only
in the afternoon of May 12th.
Somarama began his statement by thanking the lawyers who
appeared for him in the lower Court and at the trial and
continued: "I am not a person who joined any political party. I
joined the clergy and have acted throughout my life in
accordance with law and order, righteousness and truth. I
declare in this Court that I am not guilty. I did not shoot the
Prime Minister. I wish to say that I for my part have not done
anything unworthy of the robes I wore. My final prayer is that
all those present here today be blest with happiness and that
the guardian deities protect them from pain of mind and body. I
pray that Your Lordship particularly may receive their
protection. "
For a few long minutes after Somarama had concluded, court
officials busied themselves with certain preliminaries which had
to be attended to before the awful moment of sentence was
reached. These over, the voice of the court crier boomed through
the large courtroom, calling everyone to attention in a single
mandatory word, " Silence ". Mr. Justice Fernando donned a black
cap over his grey wig and rose grimly to his feet, followed by
the jury, the lawyers and the public. Then, in the breathless
silence of an overcrowded Court, His Lordship solemnly passed
sentence of death on the first, second and fourth accused in
turn.'
He then resumed his seat, paused for a while, and turning to
the jury, said, " Gentlemen of the jury, that brings your
labours to an end. On behalf of the Dominion of Ceylon, I thank
you and to these thanks I should like to add my own. "
As jailors and guards led the three manacled men through the
surging crowd to the prisons van, the curtain fell on one of the
most celebrated criminal trials which the world has witnessed in
recent times.
1 The Court of Criminal Appeal of Ceylon,
consisting of the Chief Justice, the Hon. Hema H. Basnayake,
and four other Judges, altered the sentences of death passed
on Buddharakkitha and Jayawardena to sentences of life
imprisonment, having accepted the argument of their senior
counsel, Mr. Guy Wikramanayake Q.C., that the Act which
re-introduced the death penalty for murder did not in
specific terms re-introduce that penalty for conspiracy to
commit murder as well.
In the final appeal before the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council, Mr. Dingle Foot Q.C., now
Sir Dingle Foot, appeared for Somarama. The Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council affirmed the judgment of the
Court of Criminal Appeal of Ceylon.
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