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The National Police Commission (NPC) has ordered the immediate re-instatement of an officer in charge of a specialized unit fighting crime and started investigations into explosive allegations he has made.

The officer concerned had alleged that a senior, higher ranking officer, allegedly wanted him to kill a drug suspect arrested for a second time. When he had refused to carry out what he called an illegal order, the officer had immediately been moved out. The senior officer, however, has denied the allegation.

The serious allegations of the officer against his senior have been recorded in the Information Book of the unit concern. This has raised eyebrows in the Police Department.

NPC sources said yesterday that Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera has been told to re-instate the officer to his original position. This is while the Commission conducts a full inquiry into his complaint.

The officer concerned heads a 150-strong unit and has complained to the NPC that there have been no previous complaints against him. He said the Police Chief has cited “service needs” as the reason why he was moved out.

However, he has claimed he was transferred unreasonably with immediate effect to the Police HQ for normal duties on a baseless and false report submitted by a senior officer.

He has added: “The reason for the unreasonable transfer is the refusal to carryout illegal orders issued to me and two Sub inspectors…… I have with me required evidence which could be produced at the required time regarding my refusal to perform the illegal orders given to me and two Sub Inspectors,” he has said.

Senior DIG accused of sexual harassment, but case drags on

In sexual harassment cases prosecution takes a long time in any court of law, but when it comes to police investigating its own top brass accused of similar allegations, it also appears that a long time is taken to probe these cases.

A senior Deputy Inspector General (DIG) who was accused of sexual harassment of fellow women police personnel was recalled to Head Quarters in Colombo last year after the National Police Commission (NPC) launched investigations against him.

It recommended to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) that he be transferred immediately. The NPC also recommended that the CID initiate criminal investigations against him and charge him in a court of law.

According to the NPC it is now upto the police to decide on further steps in this regard, but no action appears to have been taken so far.

Dinesh Gunawardena

Free laptops, free wifi but but no free hard copy of Constitution

Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) Leader Dinesh Gunawardena protested furiously in Parliament this week after officials charged him Rs 400 to give him a copy of the Constitution.

“I entered Parliament in 1983. Never before have I been charged Rs 400 when I have asked for a copy of the Constitution from Parliament. How shameful!” he said while speaking during Wednesday’s Committee Stage debate on the Budget.

He noted that MPs did not carry copies of the Constitution with them all the time and as such, Parliament officials should provide those copies free of charge.

Not surprisingly, Mr Gunawardena’s complaint did not go down well on social media, with users pointing out that the Constitution was available to be downloaded for free off the internet. Given that Parliament has provided free laptops for each MP and that free WiFi was available throughout the Parliamentary complex, questions were raised as to why MPs could not simply download a copy and have it printed.

“Either he is ignorant, or simply wants the paper edition to sell at 17 rupees a kilo,” one Twitter user commented, while others offered to sponsor Mr Gunawardena if he could not afford to buy a copy.

Danukshi Mudannayake

Lankan girl leads #MeToo protest at Harvard

An ancestral Sri Lankan student is one of the leading campaigners at Harvard University demanding the ouster of professor Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. He has been lambasted for joining a team of lawyers defending Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein who is accused of sexual harassment, rape and sexual abuse in a string of allegations over the last few months.

“Do you really want to one day accept your diploma from someone who for whatever reason, professional or personal, believes it is OK to defend such a prominent figure at the center of the #MeToo movement,” wrote Danukshi Mudannayake, in the petition against Sullivan.

The #MeToo movement is a collective backlash by women and women’s groups in the US against sexual abuse and harassment.

The New York Times described Sullivan as an accomplished lawyer, the Director of Harvard’s criminal law clinic and the first African-American to be appointed as a faculty Dean.

A design editor of the Harvard newspaper, The Crimson, Ms Mudannayake said the students’ quarrel was not that Prof Sullivan took on a controversial, high-profile client. But that faculty Deans are responsible for setting the tone and culture in their dorms, and students at Winthrop House felt that Sullivan’s representation of Weinstein disrupted the safe atmosphere of their community on campus.

But his decision to join the team of lawyers representing Mr Weinstein had set off protests and an intense debate at Harvard. In his defense, Prof Sullivan was quoted as saying: “Lawyers are not an extension of their clients. Lawyers do law work, not the work of ideology.”

Ms Mudannayake wrote: “Everyone on this campus knows what #MeToo is, and who Harvey Weinstein is. And it’s just shocking that it’s been brought quite literally to some student’s doorsteps.”

Ms Mudannayake is a Junior at Harvard studying Visual and Environmental Studies and is an independent filmmaker and screenwriter having written, directed, and produced two short films.