An ominous
attack unsettles the country’s judges
| The Economist
( October 12,
2012, Singapore City, Sri Lanka Guardian) Tensions have grown in Sri Lanka
between the executive and a beleaguered judiciary. They have prompted
government claims of an international plot to pit one against the other, as “in
Pakistan or Bangladesh”.
In September
Manjula Tillekeratne, the secretary of the Judicial Service Commission, alleged
in a press release that efforts were being made to destroy the independence of
the judiciary as well as the rule of law. The statement was unprecedented in
the 40-year history of the commission. The body is tasked with appointing,
transferring and dismissing judges and other court officials. It comprises the
chief justice, as chairman, and two other Supreme Court judges.
Then, on October
7th, four unidentified men assaulted Mr Tillekeratne as he waited in his car
for his children to finish their tennis lessons. One of the assailants
pistol-whipped him, while the others beat him with their fists and an iron rod.
The attack took place on a public road in broad daylight in Colombo, the
capital.
Mr Tillekeratne
had told journalists that his life was in danger soon after he had issued the
statement on the commission’s instructions. The statement alleged that the
commission was being threatened and intimidated by persons “holding different
status”. It said members had been summoned, but it did not reveal by whom. And
it claimed the commission had documentary proof of how “relevant institutions”
remained unconvinced about the importance of protecting the autonomy of the
judiciary and commission.
The statement,
with its many opaque references, was confusing. Clarity soon came from an
unlikely source: President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He told reporters that it was his
secretary who had called the commission for a meeting, ostensibly to discuss
budgetary allocations and training for judges. Senior lawyers say it was more
likely that the president had wanted to question the commission about the
suspension of a certain district-court judge known to be close to the powerful
Rajapaksa clan.
Relations
between the chief justice, Shirani Bandaranayake, and the president are also
strained. Her husband, Pradeep Kariyawasam, is being investigated over a
questionable share transaction effected while he was chairman of the
state-owned National Savings Bank. The Bribery Commission is appointed by the
president and is notoriously lethargic on high-profile complaints. But it has
fast-tracked the probe on this one. Activists had initially questioned how Mr
Kariyawasam could hold position in a government entity while his wife headed
the country’s top court. But he has been forced to resign, and legal
practitioners now face open sniping between judiciary and executive.
The assault on
Mr Tillekeratne drew condemnation from abroad. The International Commission of
Jurists urged the government to bring the perpetrators to justice, and to
ensure that judges were secure from assault and intimidation. In Sri Lanka
district and magistrate court judges went on strike for two days in protest.
Hundreds of lawyers and supporters demonstrated. The government reacted by
accusing NGOs, Western governments and separatist forces of trying to
destabilise the country—a familiar refrain.
The stand-off
may yet grow more serious. On October 9th Chamal Rajapaksa, the parliamentary
speaker, insisted that the Supreme Court had failed to comply with the
constitution in the way it had conveyed a decision on a controversial bill to
parliament. Mr Rajapaksa, who is one of several brothers of the president in
government, said the court had erred in delivering the documents to the
secretary-general of parliament and not to himself. This might be
“muscle-flexing” as one activist put it. But judges and lawyers appear inclined
to flex right back.
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