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Duminda leaves hospital amidst fire crackers and cheers of supporters
View(s):By Wasantha Ramanayake
Parliamentarian Duminda Silva returned to public life yesterday after spending 17 months in hospitals in Singapore and Colombo.
Mr. Silva is the eleventh accused in the Mulleriyawa shooting incident where Presidential Advisor Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and three others were killed.
All smiles: Duminda back home with his brother Rayynor Silva. Pix by Indika Handuwala
Last morning Mr. Silva left the private hospital in which he stayed since he arrived in the country on March 5. He was discharged from the hospital following the Colombo High Court order to release him on Wednesday. The accused parliamentarian with his hair fully grown looked different from the pictures of a bald headed man with stitches, shown recently in the media.
He walked and got into a waiting vehicle that left the hospital premises around 11. 30 a.m. The crowd which had arrived in five or six buses, specially hired, cheered and lit fire crackers on the Gangaramaya Road blocking traffic for several minutes. No sooner Mr. Silva left the hospital, the crowd gathered around the security hut at the entrance to the hospital to receive a bun and a packet of milk each, for its support.
Mr. Silva was released from remand custody on Friday after a Colombo Magistrate Court official obtained his signature on the bail documents. Colombo High Court Judge Lalith Jayasuriya making the order on Wednesday to release accused Duminda Silva on bail further noted that if he interferes with the witnesses, he could be further remanded.
The High Court judge also ordered him to surrender his passport and prohibited him to go abroad. No lawyer appeared for the relatives of the slain Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra.
I’m thoroughly disillusioned with the judicial procedure
Hirunika Premachandra the daughter of the slain Bharatha Premachandra said she would not ‘keep quiet,’ if Duminda tried to interfere with her or any other witnesses, despite the court order.
Hirunika addressing a media conference
She was also critical of the judicial process saying, “I am thoroughly disillusioned with the judicial procedure.” Hirunika told a media conference later yesterday that it was now the President’s responsibility to ensure that the culprit behind the killing of her father was brought to justice.
Referring to the release of Duminda Silva she said ‘”This was the man whose lawyers said that he could not be taken out of hospital care as his injuries were too serious. Now we see him – just a day after his release- leaving the hospital premises amidst large crowds. Aren’t there germs at such a gathering?”
“They showed pictures of his skull where an operation was supposed to have been performed after he was injured. The ‘apparent’ operation was performed after he was shot. Now he walks out with a full head of hair without a care in the world. He doesn’t look like he was shot; on the contrary he looks better than before,” she said.
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