10 January marks the ‘Darkest Hour of Democracy’ – Lawyers Collective

Lawyers Collective yesterday described “10 January 2013” as one that marked the ‘darkest hour of democracy’ give the predicament facing the country’s Chief Justice.

“Ignoring the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judgments, Parliament will debate the Impeachment against the Chief Justice on – Thursday 10thJanuary,” the Lawyers Collective said in a statement.

 The Executive and Parliament have jointly decided to proceed with the impeachment, notwithstanding the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal determination holding it to be unconstitutional. The future generations will remember the day as a national day of mourning when the rulers of the country committed a grave constitutional crime,” it said.

Lawyers Collective is urging the public to engage in peaceful protests and join hands on 10 January.

“We also urge the law enforcement officers of the country to respect the right of the citizens to engage in peaceful rallies which are intended to protect the very Constitution what guarantees such protests. We have reliably learnt that the certain criminal elements within the Government are planning to sabotage the peaceful rally but we expect the law enforcement authorities to ensure that those criminal elements would not be permitted to attack peaceful protesters,” Lawyers Collective added.