Lawyers in the northern and eastern provinces have protested against government MP Sarath Weerasekara over his recent remarks in contempt of court.
Yesterday (11), demonstrations took place mainly in front of the courts in Mullaitivu and Batticaloa, while lawyers stayed away from their duties elsewhere in the two provinces.
It all started when Mullaitivu magistrate T. Saravanaraja visited the controversial Kurunthurmalai archaeological site on July 04 for an inquiry and ordered Buddhist monks to halt religious activities there and Weerasekara tried to intervene and speak up.
The magistrate said no one could interference in a judicial proceeding.
Four days later, Weerasekara said in parliament that the magistrate should be reminded that Sri Lanka was a Sinhala Buddhist country.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka condemned his remarks as a shameless attack on the judiciary and the society.
In a statement, the BASL said any interference in affairs of the judiciary is a bad precedent.
Unanimously adopting a proposal to condemn Weerasekara’s statement, lawyers in Mullaitivu held a protest.
It was also attended by lawyers from Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Batticaloa and Trincomalee.
They held a silent protest, carrying banners and placards that demanded no interference in the judiciary and no abuse of parliamentary privileges.
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