Sri Lanka targeting judges

Rights watchdog Amnesty International yesterday accused Sri Lanka's government of trying to undermine the court system, a day after ruling party lawmakers moved to impeach the country's top judge.
President Mahinda Rajapakse's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) party submitted a resolution demanding the sacking of Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, who has been accused of flouting the constitution.
"Given recent attacks on the judiciary and the general climate of intolerance of dissent, we are concerned that the move to impeach may be politically motivated," Amnesty spokesman Olof Blomqvist told AFP.
The rights group also highlighted the case of a high court judge who was attacked and injured by armed assailants last month after he had complained of attempts to interfere with the independence of judges.
"The crackdown on dissent has extended to lawyers and members of the judiciary who speak out against abuses of power," it said.
Similar disquiet about Sri Lanka's justice system was raised when the country's rights record was reviewed at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday.