Sri Lanka lawyers strike over impeachment row

AFP/DPA/Colombo

Sri Lanka’s courts ground to a halt yesterday as lawyers went on strike to protest against a move by lawmakers to impeach the chief justice in a bitter clash over the independence of the judiciary.

The Lawyers’ Collective, representing all attorneys, has demanded that the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance withdraw its recommendation that judge Shirani Bandaranayake be impeached for professional misconduct.

Bandaranayake is the first woman to hold the post in Sri Lanka.

The one-day strike went ahead despite President Mahinda Rajapakse announcing on Tuesday night that he was willing to appoint an “independent panel” to review the parliamentary report by UPFA lawmakers.

“The president’s statement ... is an admission that it was an unlawful process,” the lawyers’ union said in a statement.

“Our members were protesting against the manner the inquiry was held against Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake and about the moves to remove her from office after finding her guilty for three of 14 offences,” a spokesman for the Bar Association which represents more than 4,000 lawyers said.

In a sign of possible compromise, Rajapakse said he was reluctant to proceed with the impeachment of Bandaranayake, the country’s first woman chief justice, but he gave no further details.

The impeachment has raised international concerns that Rajapakse is trying to control the judiciary after crushing Tamil rebels in 2009 and consolidating his hold on power.

All four opposition representatives had pulled out of the panel, leaving only the government party members to deliver a verdict.

Opposition parties protested in the capital on Monday, claiming that a parliamentary probe that found her guilty of misconduct was carried out in an unfair manner.

Action against the chief justice came after she scuttled several bills, including one that would have given more powers to Rajapakse’s youngest brother Basil, the economic development minister.

The legality of the impeachment process is also being challenged before the supreme court and a verdict is expected by tomorrow.

The government had expected Bandaranayake, 54, to resign without putting up resistance, but she has vowed to fight on and defend her innocence.

The charges on which she was found guilty by lawmakers include failing to declare nine bank accounts and interfering in a case involving a company from which her sister had bought an apartment.

Rajapakse’s party has enough support to dismiss Bandaranayake through a vote when parliament holds its next session on January 8.