Sri Lanka: Attacks on the Judiciary Intensify
Guest Column by Dr Kumar David 20-July-2012
Intimidation, physical attacks, and undermining of the judiciary and the judicial system in Sri Lanka, is nothing new – more on that later - but it has taken an intensity, under the Mahinda Rajapakse regime, never before seen. If the government loses the three provincial council elections slated for September, it is so brazen that it will make a grab for dictatorial power to prevent or rig the parliamentary and presidential elections due in the coming years. Here are a few horror stories to give a flavour of how the dispensation of justice is being subverted.
Nearly sixty-five years ago my father, then a young man, started his judicial career as the Magistrate of Mannar, a little peninsular tongue in the far north-west of this once fair island; the poor man must now be turning in his grave. Four days ago that very courthouse was surrounded by thugs and stoned, the current magistrate (Mr Judson) was threatened and intimidated, and the Rajapakse government moved heaven and earth to prevent the news going public and international. The evil genius behind the violence was a government Cabinet Minister. The Judicial Officers Association and the Bar Association have demanded that contempt of court proceedings be brought against the Minister and the Chief Justice has been asked to take a stand. Expecting the government or the CJ to do anything more than sweep the dirt under the carpet is, of course, just pie in the sky.
Here is an extract from a report of the incident that appeared in a website which in turn was quoting from a statement of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).
“(A) group of criminals, sponsored allegedly by a Minister, stoned and attacked the High Court and the Magistrate’s Court in Mannar yesterday, 18 July. According to reports received, a fishing Vadiya (landing area) was attacked by some people and on the basis of reports received the Magistrate directed the police to apprehend suspects. Thereafter the Minister is reported to have contacted the Magistrate with the view to influencing him to refrain from taking action. The Magistrate refused and insisted that the court order be executed. Thereafter a gang of thugs attacked the Magistrate’s Court and the High Court”.
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