How to react to remanding of politicians

SOCIAL media is an indicator of “public opinion.” The quotation marks are there to indicate the imperfection of the indicator, privileging the most shrill and polarising voices. But it’s an indicator nevertheless, one that cannot be ignored.

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I could see that I was not winning popularity contests by pointing to the procedural flaws in the arrest of President Wickremesinghe. But the reactions reached a new level when I reposted a statement that former parliamentarian Nimal Lanza had been remanded for an alleged assault in 2006. Now the mobs were beginning to form. Fake expressions of disappointment about how I had fallen from my pedestal began to appear.

Rule of Law

In both cases, my actions were being interpreted as support for the remandee. In their eyes, one cannot oppose an unfair procedure without at the same time taking a position on the substance of the charge. To say that the Friday afternoon arrest of President Wickremesinghe on charges that required the Magistrate to give bail only after recording “exceptional circumstances” appeared politically motivated is not to take a position on whether ex-presidents should be held accountable or whether the expenditure incurred in 2023 was justified. To question the remand of a former parliamentarian on what appear to be frivolous grounds 19 years after the fact is not to write him a character certificate.