![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/dr-shirani-bandaranayake-is-taking-oaths-as-the-acting-chief-justice-before-the-president2.jpg\" "\\"Dr.")
<\/a>The President made a show of appointing her in place of Chief Justice Asoka de Silva, who was thought to be more sympathetic to the case<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cThe court was presided over by Acting Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, considered a Rajapkasa loyalist. Several days ago, the president made a show of appointing her in place of Chief Justice Asoka de Silva, who was thought to be more sympathetic to the case but is traveling abroad.\u201d the US Ambassador to Colombo wrote to Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n A leaked US diplomatic cable records the Supreme Court decision on General Fonseka\u2019s Fundamental Rights petition re his unlawful detention. The Colombo Telegraph found the cable from WikiLeaks database. The cable written on February 24, 2010 and classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d by the Deputy Chief of Mission Valerie Fowler.<\/p>\n The US Ambassador to Colombo Patricia A. Butenis wrote \u201cOn February 23, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court denied former presidential candidate General Fonseka\u2019s petition for release as interim relief in his fundamental rights case challenging the legality of his detention. The court ruled that because the basis of the submission for interim relief was \u2018linked\u2019 to the final relief requested, the court was \u2018not in a position\u2019 to grant the interim relief.\u201d<\/p>\n There was no reason to detain him<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cThe court adopted the Attorney General\u2019s argument that Fonseka\u2019s claim that there was no reason to detain him could be verified until the investigation had been completed. While no charges have been filed against Fonseka, areas of investigation mentioned by the Attorney General included the alleged 400 army \u2018deserters\u2019 at the hotel with Fonseka during election day, Fonseka\u2019s statement that he would release \u2018top secret\u2019 information on the final stages of the war, and the Hi-Corp military procurement corruption case involving his son-in-law.\u201d ambassador Butenis further wrote.<\/p>\n Several senior human rights lawyers practicing in Colombo have told the Colombo Telegraph that Chief Justice Bandaranayake cannot be regarded as impartial and independent in cases involving sensitive political issues, particularly those that have a connection to the Rajapaksas.\u00a0Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake’s direct elevation to the Supreme Court from the Faculty of Law at Colombo University during the Kumaratunga administration was itself a political appointment, in which her mentor at the Law Faculty, the then Justice Minister, and present Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris played a key role. Following\u00a0her husband’s acceptance of a political appointment\u00a0<\/a>from the Rajapaksa regime, however, any semblance of independence that remained has completely disappeared. From the US Embassy cable below, which deals with the fundamental\u00a0rights application of Sarath Fonseka challenging his detention following the presidential election in January 2010, it would seem that Ambassador Butenis also did not believe in the judicial independence of Justice Shirani Bandaranayake.<\/p>\n To read more about Sri Lankan Judiciary\u00a0click\u00a0here<\/a><\/p>\n Below we give\u00a0a part of the confidential cable.<\/p>\n […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":1267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,53,31,57,1,8,27,2223],"tags":[6986,1143,1350,1333,1139,1161,1351,1349,1352,1298,1263],"class_list":["post-1237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anti-corruption","category-global-politics","category-judiciary","category-law-and-order","category-news","category-editorial","category-wikileaks","category-wikileaks-latest-popular","tag-anti-corruption","tag-authoritarianism","tag-chief-justice-shirani-bandaranayake","tag-corruption-in-sri-lankan-judicary","tag-democracy","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-general-fonseka","tag-sri-lankan-judicial-system","tag-sri-lankan-kleptocracy","tag-sri-lankans-in-wikileaks","tag-us-embassy-cables-on-sri-lanka"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>VZCZCXRO1439\r\nOO RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR\r\nDE RUEHLM #0132\/01 0550154\r\nZNY CCCCC ZZH\r\nO 240154Z FEB 10\r\nFM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO\r\nTO RUEHC\/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1354\r\nINFO RUCNMEM\/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY\r\nRUEHKA\/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 2443\r\nRUEHIL\/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 9460\r\nRUEHKT\/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 7715\r\nRUEHLO\/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 5453\r\nRUEHNE\/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 3882\r\nRUEHNY\/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 0039\r\nRUEHOT\/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0239\r\nRUEHSM\/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 0855\r\nRUEHKO\/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 4502\r\nRUEHCG\/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 0021\r\nRUEHBI\/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 7255\r\nRUEHON\/AMCONSUL TORONTO PRIORITY 0234\r\nRHEFDIA\/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRUEHGV\/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0146\r\nRHHMUNA\/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY\r\nRUEHBS\/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY\r\nRHEHAAA\/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRUEKJCS\/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY\r\nC O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000132\r\n\r\nSIPDIS\r\n\r\nDEPARTMENT FOR SCA\/INSB\r\n\r\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 02\/23\/2019\r\nTAGS: PGOV<\/a> PREL<\/a> PREF<\/a> PHUM<\/a> PTER<\/a> EAID<\/a> MOPS<\/a> CE<\/a>\r\nSUBJECT: FONSEKA CATCH-22: SUPREME COURT RULES NO RELEASE\r\nWITHOUT CHARGES\r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000132 001.2 OF 002\r\n\r\nClassified By: DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION VALERIE C. FOWLER. REASONS: 1.4\r\n (B, D)\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>1. (C) SUMMARY: At a Fundamental Rights hearing on February\r\n23, the Supreme Court denied General Fonseka release as\r\ninterim relief because his claim that there was no reason to\r\ndetain him could not be verified until the investigation was\r\ncompleted and, presumably, charges were filed. At the same\r\ntime, however, the court authorized protection of Fonseka's\r\nsecurity, greater access by his family, access by his\r\nattorneys, and possibly access by his physicians. The next\r\nhearing was scheduled for April 26, 2010. Embassy PolOff\r\nattended the hearing. END SUMMARY.\r\n\r\nRELIEF DENIED\r\n-------------\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>2. (SBU) On February 23, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court denied\r\nformer presidential candidate General Fonseka's petition for\r\nrelease as interim relief in his fundamental rights case\r\nchallenging the legality of his detention. The court ruled\r\nthat because the basis of the submission for interim relief\r\nwas \"linked\" to the final relief requested, the court was\r\n\"not in a position\" to grant the interim relief. (NOTE: The\r\ncourt was presided over by Acting Chief Justice Shirani\r\nBandaranyake, considered a Rajapaksa loyalist. Several days\r\nago, the president made a show of appointing her in place of\r\nChief Justice Asoka de Silva, who was thought to be more\r\nsympathetic to the case but is traveling abroad. END NOTE.)\r\nFonseka was not present at the hearing and his attorney had\r\nnot had access to him. The next hearing was set for April\r\n26, 2010, after the parliamentary elections.\r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>3. (SBU) The court adopted the Attorney General's argument\r\nthat Fonseka's claim that there was no reason to detain him\r\ncould not be verified until the investigation had been\r\ncompleted. While no charges have been filed against Fonseka,\r\nareas of investigation mentioned by the Attorney General\r\nincluded the alleged 400 army \"deserters\" at the hotel with\r\nFonseka during election day, Fonseka's statement that he\r\nwould release \"top secret\" information on the final stages of\r\nthe war, and the Hi-Corp military procurement corruption case\r\ninvolving his son-in-law.\r\nBUTENIS<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"