Hundreds of Sri Lankans marched on Monday to demand the government halt a plan to impeach the country’s chief justice and condemning what they say is intimidation of the judiciary.
Nearly 1,000 demonstrators, including opposition lawmakers and rights activists, marched through the capital, shouting slogans and displaying banners that read “Hands off the judiciary” and “End of judiciary – End of fair play.”
Last week, the government started the process to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake after a drawn-out conflict between the judiciary and parliament. The government says Bandaranayake has undermined parliament’s supremacy and misused her office. Opposition politicians and critics say the impeachment motion is a ploy to stifle judicial independence
On Monday, protesters staged a silent protest in front of the country’s Supreme Court and then walked across the main roads of Colombo and held a rally outside the main railroad station.
Opposition lawmaker Anura Dissanayake said “the government is trying to weaken the judiciary and on the other hand it has dealt a severe blow to the country’s democratic setup.”
Opposition officials and rights groups have accused President Mahinda Rajapaksa of tightening control over the media, police and election officials as well as carrying out vendettas against independent media, journalists and opposition parties.