Lawyers engaged in a protest in front of the Hulftsdorp Court Complex today afternoon, against the intimidation of a magistrate and attack on Mannar court, demanding the immediate arrest of Minister Rishad Bathiudeen over the incidents.
The protestors, including several leading attorneys in the country, held placards and called on the public to rally to protect the independence of the judiciary.
A petition has been filed against Minister Rishad Bathiudeen at the Court of Appeals, under the charges of threatening a judge and attacking a court, and it is scheduled to be taken up tomorrow (23), said senior attorney J.C. Weliamuna.
Courts across the country were paralysed on Friday (20) as judges and lawyers staged a boycott to protest the alleged political interference with the judiciary.
The Asian Human Rights Commission said it welcomed the action by the judges and lawyers as a “very important step in the fight back against the serious undermining of the courts”.
The Minister of Industry and Commerce is accused of threatening the magistrate in Mannar to change an arrest order while a mob had stoned the Mannar court house on Wednesday, forcing police to fire tear gas to disperse angry mobs.
Minister Bathiudeen however has denied the allegation.
