Lucien Weeramantry - An Appreciation.

email from Senaka Weeraratna

Lucien Weeramantry
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/appreciation07.htm
The passing away of Attorney-at-Law Lucien Gregory Weeramantry on August 17 has cast a gloom amongst the legal fraternity at Hutftsdorp and his wide circle of friends whom he had very intimately befriended over the years, both in Sri Lanka and abroad. It is not my intention to write about his unmatched international achievements of which I am certain many others more knowledgeable would record for posterity. I write this appreciation to speak of Lucien Weeramantry the lawyer I knew at the Bar and nothing more.
After I was called to the Bar in May 1959 I had the good fortune of instructing Lucien Weeramantry in my very first Case which was the Trial of the then National Football Coach in a cheque Fraud Case. Lucien, who was many years my Senior, in all humility insisted that I refer to him simply by his first name and never add the prefix ‘Mr’ or ‘Sir’ when addressing him which is usually the legal tradition adopted by juniors at the Bar when addressing their seniors. This instantly endeared him as a lifelong true friend for many decades to follow.
A couple of years later, 1961 to be exact, fate decreed that Lucien and 1 should appear for the defence of three of the main accused in the country’s most sensational murder Case, that of the Assassination of then Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Lucien appeared for the assassin Talduwe Somarama Thera and my clients were Mapitigama Buddharakkita Thera and H. P. Jayawardena, the 1st and 2nd accused respectively. Being in almost general control of the defence it fell on me to retain a Counsel for Somarama Thero, which was no easy task due to the political climate at the time. However Lucien Weeramantry when approached by me had no hesitation in accepting the challenge and the dedication he exhibited thereafter in the course of the Supreme Court Trial towards his client in the face of tremendous odds earned the admiration of all including the Trial Judge, Hon. T. S. Fernando, Q.C., who when addressing accused Somarama Thero before sentence of death was passed on him remarked, inter alia, “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.” I do not think any Court in this country, least of all the Supreme Court, has ever paid such a glowing tribute to Counsel in a Case. Lucien Weeramantry fully deserved it.
In the ensuing appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal Weeramantry filed a petition setting out 60 grounds and argued it for full five days before a Bench of five Judges presided over by Chief Justice Hon. Hema Basnayake Q.C. which again had little success. But Lucien was a great fighter and a further Appeal was presented to the Privy Council against the Appeal Court verdict. Having obtained the services of eminent English Counsel D. N. Pritt, Q.C., pro deo, Lucien and I prepared the necessary Brief to be sent over to London. In doing so I had referred to Somarama as “the Assassin.” When Lucien spotted this he was visibly upset and asked me to correct it to read “the alleged assassin.” Such was the devotion of the man to his client whose interest Lucien always held to be paramount. By this he also exhibited his control to legal phraseology.
Another moving moment which should not go unrecorded was when the day of Somarama’s execution drew near Lucien telephoned me the day before the execution and wanted me to accompany him to the death row at the Welikada Prison to see Somarama for the last time. We went there the evening before the execution but our mission did not succeed as the authorities refused to grant us permission to see the prisoner. Lucian however managed to convince the Prison Guards to at least inform Somarama that we had come to see him but were not granted access. The sight of the hangman hurriedly going about the last minute preparations for the next mornings execution was too much for Lucien’s human heart to bear and we left the prison in stunned silence. 
Lucien Weeramantry was a gentleman to his finger tips, he was always well groomed and immaculately dressed and enjoyed the fruits of life to its full. He thoroughly enjoyed the life in Court in the mornings as much as he did the evenings. He was one of Hulftsdorp’s most glamorous lawyers at the time I joined the profession. Nothing could worry him because he was always strongly in control of any situation. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

R. Wickramarachchi
Boralesgamuwa

Prof. Valentine Basnayake - An Appreciation by Dr. Mark Amerasinghe.

There is so much to say of this humble ‘national treasure’
Writing an appreciation of Valentine Basnayake, popularly known as
Bas, is no easy matter; not because there is little that can be said
about him, but because there is so much that calls to be said of this
multifaceted, true human being, that makes it difficult for me, alone,
to do him justice.
After qualifying MBBS, Bas, following his academic bent, joined the
Dept. of Physiology of the Faculty of Medicine in Colombo and after a
while, went to Oxford for his postgraduate studies.
It was his life-long and deep love of music – he was self-taught- that
brought the two of us together. Ever willing to help those who were
interested in music – wherever that interest lay- he helped and
accompanied me in my early days as a budding singer. It was this close
association plus our interaction over many years in the Faculty of
Medicine of the second medical school, that made us firm friends.
Many were the singers and instrumentalists he helped, often at very
short notice. He was the regular accompanist for that Meistersinger,
the late Lylie Godridge, among other singers of repute. He was much
sought after and for a long time had the reputation of being Sri
Lanka’s foremost accompanist. This latter reputation did not blunt the
humility of this truly great musician. He was also the chosen
accompanist, for the internationally acclaimed tenor Luigi Infantino
and that Sri Lankan of international repute, the cellist Rohan de
Saram, when they performed in Sri Lanka.
After some years in Colombo, he moved to Peradeniya and adorned the
Chair in Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine of the Peradeniya
Medical School. I shall leave it to others who were closely associated
with him in the Physiology Dept. to write about his contribution to
his chosen discipline. Two aspects of this contribution were known to
me; his introduction of students to Project Work and his encouragement
of a good research methodology, guided all the time by a strict
adherence to ethical principles.
In Peradeniya, he spent a great deal of time and energy in the
development and encouragement of those who were interested in music
and actually aroused that interest among those who up to that time had
paid little attention to it. He, ably backed by his close friend the
late Prof. Seneka Bibile, was responsible for the initiation and
growth of the Peradeniya P4 music group. This gathering of people
interested in music, people of all ages, performers and audience
alike, met regularly to produce music and provide entertainment which
was greatly appreciated by so many. Some children who were in those
audiences, now grown up men and women, still fondly recall those
musical evenings. The hard work of organisation was in Bas’s hands
with, in the early days, Seneka and Leela Bibile providing the venue
and eats and drinks. It was Bas’s highly methodical hard work, his
enthusiasm and dedication that kept this group alive for many years.
So popular were these get-togethers that a group of singers, among
whom were Lylie Godridge, Nimal Senanayake, Lorraine Abeysekera,
Irangani Goonesinghe and Mary Anne David, came up regularly from
Colombo for the evening, just to participate in these most enjoyable
evenings, getting back to Colombo late that same night.
Valentine Basnayake played a vital role in the Schools Biology Project
headed by Seneka Bibile. Bas ensured that students were introduced to
Biology not as a mere text-book discipline but as a hands-on learning
experience, largely through project work. I believe that he was the
first scholar to introduce MCQ’s to Sri Lanka; an experience that he
made use of in the Faculty of Medicine; being responsible for training
other staff in the formulation of sound, meaningful MCQ’s.
Furthermore, he introduced the Student Projects experience popularised
in the School Biology Project to the Faculty and ensured its
continuance for many years.
Bas was a soft spoken, gentle man who never spoke harshly to anyone.
When displeased or angry that some people disagreed with him he merely
fell silent. When he spoke, he weighed every word he used with
infinite care and precision, so that there was no ambiguity in what he
said. He held strong views particularly on educational matters and
expressed them firmly, precisely but always calmly. He made a huge
contribution to Medical Education, particularly in the field of
evaluation, long before the Medical Education Unit was set up.
As Dean of Faculty and Professor of Physiology, Bas made an invaluable
contribution to the Peradeniya Medical School. There were those who,
while acknowledging and admiring his commitment and scholarship,
claimed that at times he could be inflexible. I know personally that
this criticism was at times justifiable. During his period of
deanship, I had the pleasure and privilege of meeting him regularly
and discussing matters with him over many a cup of Nescafe brewed by
him. There were times I disagreed with him over matters that were to
come up at the next Faculty meeting. No amount of argument or
persuasion could shift him from the stand he was going to take. After
expressing his view, in that quiet, precise and firm manner of his, he
would listen to me patiently without interruption and comment. On
these occasions, I told him that I was on the grounds of our
friendship, warning him of my disagreement, but would challenge him in
open ‘Court’ if he held his ground. He just smiled and said, “Mark,
have another cup of coffee!”
Bas was a true academic, displaying those qualities that went way
beyond the holding of degrees. He was greatly admired by many a
leading scientist in the country. He was an active member of the Sri
Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science for many years. The
late Professor Breckenridge in conversation with me once said, ‘I say
men, Bas is a national treasure!
I leave to the last a unique aspect of this man. Namely, his love and
concern for all living things. Once, while walking along the corridor
with him, he suddenly stopped, bent down, gently picked up a worm that
lay across his path and as gently placed it in the adjacent garden.
His dog, resident in the Dept of Physiology, followed him faithfully
to his lectures, and sat patiently, perhaps, listening to the lecture
with as much interest as the students.
I believe- I may be wrong here- that during his time, animal
experimentation was gradually replaced by a different type of
physiology that did not involve the muscle twitch trace of a pithed
frog. I know for certain that he considered such experimentation
unacceptable and a cruelty to a helpless animal.
“Dear Bas, your long-time close friend and associate, says ‘Goodbye’
with a heart burdened with pain, sorrow and a sense of deep loss,
while giving thanks to you and the Higher Powers that be, for granting
me the invaluable gift of knowing you so well and for the pleasure I
experienced in this knowing and for the knowledge I was privileged to
glean from you.”
Yes. Sri Lanka has indeed lost a ‘national treasure!’

Click on the web-link below:-

markamerasinghe.blogspot.com

Prof ACE Koch - An appreciation.

Please click on the web-link below:-

http://www.island.lk/2003/11/16/opinio03.html