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CJ 44 must go: BASL
Sri Lanka’s premier body of lawyers yesterday demanded the immediate removal of Chief Justice 44 Mohan Peiris, accusing him of being present when former President Mahinda Rajapaksa discussed means of staying in power illegally after learning he would lose the January 8 presidential poll.
“Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told me he would call for the CJ’s resignation after consulting President Maithripala Sirisena,” Upul Jayasuriya, President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka said yesterday. They met the Premier after an emergency meeting of the Executive Council of the BASL.
Mr. Jayasuriya told a news conference yesterday, “We have lost confidence in the credibility of the Hon. Chief Justice to continue to function in that office.”
He said Premier Wickremesinghe had told him that when CJ 44 Peiris met him, he had told the Premier that he commanded the confidence of the legal fraternity. However, Mr. Jayasuriya said he rebutted this claim and pointed out that the BASL was the premier organisation of lawyers and it had no confidence in Mr. Peiris.
The BASL’s demands came as Criminal Investigation Department (CID) detectives were set to record statements from former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and a number of others over what happened in the early hours of January 9 when the counting of votes was taking place. The others to be questioned will include Chief Justice 44 Peiris, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris, Western Provincial Councillor Udaya Gammanpila, Attorney General Yuvanjana Wijeyetilleke, Army Commander Daya Ratnayake and Inspector General N.K. Illangakoon.
The move centres on allegations that disturbances were to be caused at certain counting centres in the early hours of January 9 and efforts were made to declare a state of emergency, impose a curfew and adopt other measures to ensure that Rajapaksa continued in office as President. The alleged plot had been discussed at a meeting in Temple Trees before dawn on January 9. It is alleged that the idea was dropped after objections were raised by those called upon to enforce the measures.
On Wednesday, the new External Affairs Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, accompanied by a team of top lawyers, officially made a complaint to the CID regarding the alleged plot.
BASL President Jayasuriya said that the continuation of Mr. Peiris as Chief Justice was causing grave damage to the honour and integrity of the entire judiciary. He said the BASL wanted Mr. Peiris to resign.
President Maithripala Sirisena in his 100-day programme pledged that “all those who were subjected to political victimisation and punishment including former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka and the 43rd Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake will be reinstated in their lost positions and their lost rights will be restored”.