US reiterates serious concerns over impeachment of Chief Justice

Washington DC: The United States Wednesday reiterated its serious concerns over the Sri Lankan Government’s actions to impeach the Chief Justice.

Responding to media queries at the daily press briefing on Wednesday on the impeachment of Sri Lanka’s Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department Victoria Nuland said the Government actions and the timing of the impeachment raised serious questions.

Chief JusticeDr. Shirani Bandaranayake

“As we said before, we had serious concerns about the actions that were taken to impeach the Chief Justice and the timing of the impeachment, and that it raised serious questions about the process and Government pressure on the judiciary,” the spokesperson said.

The US in an earlier statement said it is concerned by actions taken to impeach the Chief Justice and also by the recent threats to Sri Lankan judicial officials, including the assault on a judge who had publicly criticised Government pressure on members of the judiciary and urged the Sri Lankan Government to avoid any action that would impede the efficacy and independence of Sri Lanka’s judiciary. “The US, along with our partners in the international community, continues to urge Sri Lanka to address outstanding issues of the rule of law, democratic governance, accountability and reconciliation,” the US said in November last year.