{"id":49888,"date":"2012-08-01T16:27:45","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T16:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=49888"},"modified":"2012-08-08T17:32:47","modified_gmt":"2012-08-08T17:32:47","slug":"wikileaks-ex-cj-sarath-silvas-judicial-pedigree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-ex-cj-sarath-silvas-judicial-pedigree\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: EX CJ Sarath Silva\u2019s Judicial Pedigree"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Colombo Telegraph<\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Sarath De Silva, has shifted over the past month from regularly supporting the President in its rulings to deciding against the Government on key issues. When former President Chandrika Kumaratunga appointed De Silva over more senior judges to sit as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1999, the public criticized De Silva as a tool of the Kumaratunga administration. However, in 2005, De Silva ruled that Kumaratunga would have to step down from office one year earlier than expected, paving the way for then-Prime Minister Rajapaksa to run for President.\u201d the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A Leaked \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d US diplomatic cable, dated June 27, 2007, updated the Secretary of State on Sri Lanka\u2019s Judiciary under the Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva details Silva’s judicial behaviour. The\u00a0Colombo Telegraph<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable was written by the charge d’affairs James R. Moore.<\/p>\n

James wrote \u201cAfter Rajapaksa won the Presidential election, De Silva continued to support him in significant court cases. In 2005, De Silva’s bench issued an injunction to keep police from further investigating the President’s alleged misappropriation of tsunami funds. In March 2006 the Court ruled the investigation violated Rajapaksa’s fundamental rights and ordered a United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian and two others to pay the President compensation for opening the investigation. In October 2006, De Silva ruled to de-merge the Tamil dominated North and East provinces, a politically sensitive and important decision for the President and the JVP (ref B).\u201d<\/p>\n

Referring to Silva\u2019s shift from regularly supporting the President in its rulings he wrote \u201cIn the following cases this month, however, De Silva reversed this trend and ruled against the President in a string of popular decisions many hailed as brave and just in its protection of fundamental rights. –June 8: The Supreme Court issued an interim order to prevent the Inspector General of Police from taking steps to evict Tamils from Colombo or prevent them from entering Colombo despite orders widely believed to have come from the Ministry of Defense (ref A). (Note: De Silva was not on the bench for this case but sources close to the Court told us De Silva was behind the decision. End Note) \u2013<\/p>\n

June 14: De Silva issued a stay against Government plans to sell nearly 25 percent of its shares in Sri Lanka Telecom to a Malaysian company. The Court also subpoenaed all Government documents related to the sale. \u2013<\/p>\n

June 18: De Silva granted Tiran Alles’s petition to file a Violation of Fundamental Rights case against the Government for his arrest on May 30. Alles was arrested on charges of supporting terrorism after the President fired Alles’s allies, Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyarachchi, from their ministerial posts. The Government also froze business accounts for Alles’s two newspapers, which were critical of the President and his policies, forcing them to close. Observers of the case said the Government’s actions were politically motivated. \u2013<\/p>\n

June 19: The Court permitted a prominent UNP member to file a Violation of Fundamental Rights case against the Government for bribery solicitation and harassment of his company, Sevanagala Sugar Industries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the subheading \u201cSILVA’S MOTIVES POLITICAL, NOT JUDICIAL\u201d charge d’affairs James wrote \u201cLegal insiders say that while they are pleased with the recent rulings, they are not necessarily the result of an improved judiciary, but rather, are born in part out of De Silva’s political ambitions and alliances. Embassy contacts say De Silva has close ties to members of the Sinhalese nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), who are increasingly displeased with the Rajapaksa administration and who back De Silva’s recent decisions. Former Attorney General and De Silva colleague, Shibly Aziz, told us De Silva was \u2018riding the wave\u2019 of JVP and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) support. He cited the rapid fire manner in which the Court issued decisions in June designed to target the President and his Administration and win popularity with the public. Aziz explained that De Silva was playing to Buddhist sensitivities while portraying himself as a populist who is not anti-Tamil. Bhavani Fonseka, Senior Researcher at the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA), claimed that De Silva made the politically savvy decision to stay the eviction of Tamils from Colombo in order to garner UNP and public support while still maintaining his allegiance to the JVP which expressed its disapproval of the evictions in a June 7 session of Parliament. Saliya Pieris, a prominent private attorney that tries Supreme Court cases, told us other judges privately say De Silva has gone as far as engineering cases he wants to adjudicate by inviting petitioners to file their case using lawyers known to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAziz told us that never in the judiciary’s history has there been a chief justice with such absolute control over the rest of the country’s judges. Aziz and Pieris said De Silva is charismatic, cunning, and vindictive, as well as one of the great legal minds of Sri Lanka, making him the last person anybody wants to challenge. From the Supreme Court down to the Magistrate Courts, De Silva dominates. Although there are 11 other Supreme Court justices, the Chief Justice chooses which ones sit on a given bench (usually consisting of three judges per case). Aziz said De Silva picks the most compliant judges regardless of their seniority. Pieris told us that even when De Silva is not personally on the bench, the Supreme Court justices make decisions approved by De Silva. Pieris said the only Supreme Court justice who dares challenge De Silva, Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake who is second in seniority, has now been marginalized. Aziz and Pieris point to the small number of dissenting opinions written during De Silva’s tenure as further evidence of his dominance.\u201d he further wrote.<\/p>\n

James Moor wrote \u201cThus far, President Rajapaksa has remained publicly silent on De Silva and his recent rulings, but there is little doubt he is unhappy with the Chief Justice. Supreme Court Justice Jagath Balapatabandhi (strictly protect) told our political FSN that, in mid-May, President Rajapaksa privately asked De Silva to retire. He said the President identified Supreme Court Justice Nihal Jayasinghe as his desired replacement. Pieris told us Jayasinghe is the fourth most senior on the bench and known as more pliable than De Silva. If De Silva does not voluntarily retire, the President would have to convince Parliament to impeach De Silva to put his man in the Chief Justice’s seat, which is unlikely given De Silva’s current level of public support. De Silva retires in 2009. In the meantime, President Rajapaksa consistently appoints Jayasinghe over the more senior Shirani Bandaranayake as acting chief justice when De Silva is away.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chief Justice or her husband must resign<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

A Criminal Monk To The Police Commission<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Two stories:Namal Rajapaksa took oaths as Attorney-at-Law and two students arrested for exam fraud<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

WikiLeaks: Chief Justice Shirani Is A Rajapkasa Loyalist<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Read the cable below for further details;<\/p>\n

VZCZCXRO7207\r\nOO RUEHBI RUEHLMC\r\nDE RUEHLM #0920\/01 1781329\r\nZNY CCCCC ZZH\r\nO 271329Z JUN 07\r\nFM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO\r\nTO RUEHC\/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6359\r\nINFO RUEHRL\/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 0479\r\nRUEHKA\/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 0240\r\nRUEHIL\/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 7223\r\nRUEHKT\/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 5328\r\nRUEHLO\/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 3868\r\nRUEHNE\/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1142\r\nRUEHNY\/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 3941\r\nRUEHKO\/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 3025\r\nRUEHCG\/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 7811\r\nRUEHBI\/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 5467\r\nRUEHON\/AMCONSUL TORONTO PRIORITY 0279\r\nRUEHGV\/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 2163\r\nRHHMUNA\/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY\r\nRHEFDIA\/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRHEHAAA\/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRUEHBS\/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY\r\nRUEHLMC\/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION PRIORITY<\/pre>\n
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 000920 \r\n\r\nSIPDIS \r\n\r\nSIPDIS \r\n\r\nDEPARTMENT FOR SCA\/INS\r\nMCC FOR D NASSIRY AND E BURKE \r\n\r\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 06\/25\/2017\r\nTAGS: PGOV<\/a> PREL<\/a> PTER<\/a> PHUM<\/a> MOPS<\/a> CE<\/a>\r\nSUBJECT: AMBITIOUS CHIEF JUSTICE BREAKS AWAY FROM PRESIDENT \r\n\r\nREF: A. (A) COLOMBO 00824\r\n     \u00b6<\/a>B. (B) COLOMBO 00265\r\n     \u00b6<\/a>C. (C) COLOMBO 00152 \r\n\r\nClassified By: charge d'affairs James R. Moore, for reasons 1.4(b,d). \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>1. (C) SUMMARY:  In a shift from regularly supporting the\r\nPresident in its rulings, the Supreme Court, headed by Chief\r\nJustice Sarath De Silva, made several decisions this month\r\nthat the public widely hailed as justice served by a newly\r\nindependent judiciary.  Legal experts say, however, that\r\nwhile they are also pleased with the recent rulings, they are\r\nless the result of an improved judiciary, than a product of\r\nDe Silva's political ambitions and new alliances.  Earlier in\r\nthe year, international organizations expressed concerns over\r\nDe Silva's influence over the judiciary in annual reports and\r\nrecommended inquiries into the allegations that De Silva\r\nunfairly manipulated decisions.  Though he would like to, it\r\nis unlikely the President will be able to oust De Silva\r\nbefore he retires from the Court in 2009.  Meanwhile, legal\r\nobservers continue to worry about De Silva's potential impact\r\non the judiciary and the peace process.   End Summary \r\n\r\nRECENT DECISIONS HAILED AS JUST AND INDEPENDENT\r\n--------------------------------------------- -- \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>2. (C)  The Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Sarath De\r\nSilva, has shifted over the past month from regularly\r\nsupporting the President in its rulings to deciding against\r\nthe Government on key issues.  When former President\r\nChandrika Kumaratunga appointed De Silva over more senior\r\njudges to sit as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1999,\r\nthe public criticized De Silva as a tool of the Kumaratunga\r\nadministration.  However, in 2005, De Silva ruled that\r\nKumaratunga would have to step down from office one year\r\nearlier than  expected, paving the way for then-Prime\r\nMinister Rajapaksa to run for President. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>3. (C)  After Rajapaksa won the Presidential election, De\r\nSilva continued to support him in significant court cases.\r\nIn 2005, De Silva's bench issued an injunction to keep police\r\nfrom further investigating the President's alleged\r\nmisappropriation of tsunami funds.  In March 2006 the Court\r\nruled the investigation violated Rajapaksa's fundamental\r\nrights and ordered a United National Party (UNP)\r\nparliamentarian and two others to pay the President\r\ncompensation for opening the investigation.  In October 2006,\r\nDe Silva ruled to de-merge the Tamil dominated North and East\r\nprovinces, a politically sensitive and important decision for\r\nthe President and the JVP (ref B). \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>4.  (C)  In the following cases this month, however, De Silva\r\nreversed this trend and ruled against the President in a\r\nstring of popular decisions many hailed as brave and just in\r\nits protection of fundamental rights. \r\n\r\n--June 8: The Supreme Court issued an interim order to\r\nprevent the Inspector General of Police from taking steps to\r\nevict Tamils from Colombo or prevent them from entering\r\nColombo despite orders widely believed to have come from the\r\nMinistry of Defense (ref A).  (Note: De Silva was not on the\r\nbench for this case but sources close to the Court told us De\r\nSilva was behind the decision. End Note) \r\n\r\n--June 14: De Silva issued a stay against Government plans to\r\nsell nearly 25 percent of its shares in Sri Lanka Telecom to\r\na Malaysian company.  The Court also subpoenaed all\r\nGovernment documents related to the sale. \r\n\r\n--June 18: De Silva granted Tiran Alles's petition to file a\r\nViolation of Fundamental Rights case against the Government \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000920  002 OF 004 \r\n\r\nfor his arrest on May 30.  Alles was arrested on charges of\r\nsupporting terrorism after the President fired Alles's\r\nallies, Mangala Samaraweera and Sripathi Sooriyarachchi, from\r\ntheir ministerial posts.  The Government also froze business\r\naccounts for Alles's two newspapers, which were critical of\r\nthe President and his policies, forcing them to close.\r\nObservers of the case said the Government's actions were\r\npolitically motivated. \r\n\r\n--June 19: The Court permitted a prominent UNP member to file\r\na Violation of Fundamental Rights case against the Government\r\nfor bribery solicitation and harassment of his company,\r\nSevanagala Sugar Industries. \r\n\r\nDE SILVA'S MOTIVES POLITICAL, NOT JUDICIAL\r\n------------------------------------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>4. (C)  Legal insiders say that while they are pleased with\r\nthe recent rulings, they are not necessarily the result of an\r\nimproved judiciary, but rather, are born in part out of De\r\nSilva's political ambitions and alliances.  Embassy contacts\r\nsay De Silva has close ties to members of the Sinhalese\r\nnationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), who are\r\nincreasingly displeased with the Rajapaksa administration and\r\nwho back De Silva's recent decisions.  Former Attorney\r\nGeneral and De Silva colleague, Shibly Aziz, told us De Silva\r\nwas \"riding the wave\" of JVP and Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU)\r\nsupport.  He cited the rapid fire manner in which the Court\r\nissued decisions in June designed to target the President and\r\nhis Administration and win popularity with the public.  Aziz\r\nexplained that De Silva was playing to Buddhist sensitivities\r\nwhile portraying himself as a populist who is not anti-Tamil.\r\n Bhavani Fonseka, Senior Researcher at the Center for Policy\r\nAlternatives (CPA), claimed that De Silva made the\r\npolitically savvy decision to stay the eviction of Tamils\r\nfrom Colombo in order to garner UNP and public support while\r\nstill maintaining his allegiance to the JVP which expressed\r\nits disapproval of the evictions in a June 7 session of\r\nParliament.  Saliya Pieris, a prominent private attorney that\r\ntries Supreme Court cases, told us other judges privately say\r\nDe Silva has gone as far as engineering cases he wants to\r\nadjudicate by inviting petitioners to file their case using\r\nlawyers known to him. \r\n\r\nDE SILVA COURTING UNP\r\n--------------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>5. (C)  Fonseka told us De Silva has political ambitions and\r\nis making judicial decisions with the aim of earning popular\r\nsupport and additional political backing.  She said De Silva,\r\nwho would need the backing of a major political party to\r\nachieve his political ambitions, has \"sent feelers\" to the\r\nlargest opposition party, the UNP.  Aziz, a UNP member, said\r\nDe Silva was certainly sending \"signals\" to the UNP.  Both\r\nAziz and Pieris thought De Silva may later reverse his\r\nprevious decision that the UNP could not expel its party\r\nmembers who crossed over to the Government last winter (ref\r\nC). After an initial defeat at the Supreme Court, the UNP\r\nre-filed its case with the District Court who ruled the UNP\r\ncould not expel members who crossed over without an official\r\ndisciplinary inquiry to find the members in violation of\r\nparty rules.  Aziz said the UNP is currently conducting such\r\nan inquiry. If successful and upheld by the Supreme Court, a\r\nfinding in the UNP's favor would mean those members who\r\ncrossed over to the Government's coalition would lose their\r\nseats in Parliament and the President's slim majority would\r\nbe in jeopardy.  Nonetheless, Pieris thought it was likely De\r\nSilva gave SLFP members Sooriyarachchi and Samaraweera\r\nassurances that they would not lose their Parliament seats if\r\nthey crossed over to the opposition as they did on June 19. \r\n\r\nONLY DE SILVA MATTERS \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000920  003 OF 004 \r\n\r\n--------------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>6. (C)  Aziz told us that never in the judiciary's history\r\nhas there been a chief justice with such absolute control\r\nover the rest of the country's judges.  Aziz and Pieris said\r\nDe Silva is charismatic, cunning, and vindictive, as well as\r\none of the great legal minds of Sri Lanka, making him the\r\nlast person anybody wants to challenge.  From the Supreme\r\nCourt down to the Magistrate Courts, De Silva dominates.\r\nAlthough there are 11 other Supreme Court justices, the Chief\r\nJustice chooses which ones sit on a given bench (usually\r\nconsisting of three judges per case).  Aziz said De Silva\r\npicks the most compliant judges regardless of their\r\nseniority.  Pieris told us that even when De Silva is not\r\npersonally on the bench, the Supreme Court justices make\r\ndecisions approved by De Silva.   Pieris said the only\r\nSupreme Court justice who dares challenge De Silva, Dr.\r\nShirani Bandaranayake who is second in seniority, has now\r\nbeen marginalized.  Aziz and Pieris point to the small number\r\nof dissenting opinions written during De Silva's tenure as\r\nfurther evidence of his dominance. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>7. (C)  Pieris also said that De Silva uses punishments and\r\nrewards to get what he wants.  Pieris claimed he disbars\r\nlawyers who criticize him and withholds career opportunities\r\nfrom his adversaries.  Transparency International noted in\r\nits 2007 report on Sri Lanka: \"Judges who do not tow the\r\npolitical line are warned, and if incorrigible, are dismissed\r\non one pretext or another.  Conversely, judges who are\r\npolitically in line with the administration are shielded from\r\ndisciplinary action despite evidence of corrupt practices,\r\nincluding bribe taking...\"  Although no one openly opposes\r\nhim, Pieris said, judges at all levels privately say they are\r\nunhappy. \r\n\r\nBAD NEWS FOR THE JUDICIARY, AND PERHAPS, PEACE\r\n--------------------------------------------- - \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>8. (C)  Sri Lanka has reasonable legal provisions to\r\nsafeguard judicial independence.  The Constitution provides\r\nfor a Constitutional Council that ratifies the President's\r\nnominations to the Supreme Court.  However, the council\r\nlapsed in November 2005 and President Rajapaksa failed to\r\nappoint new members.  The Government said it is waiting for\r\nsmaller political parties to nominate the last remaining\r\nmember.  Meanwhile, the President has unilaterally appointed\r\ntwo Supreme Court judges.  Fonseka told us these appointments\r\nwere made in consultation with De Silva and were more\r\ninfluenced by De Silva than the President. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>9. (C)  Before the recent Supreme Court decisions,\r\ninternational organizations highlighted their concern that\r\nSri Lanka's judiciary was increasingly politicized and\r\nlargely blamed De Silva.  In a statement at the UN Human\r\nRights Council's fifth session held in Geneva, Secretary\r\nGeneral Nicholas Howen of the International Commission of\r\nJurists (ICJ) expressed concern about the \"constitutional\r\nparalysis that is damaging the independence of Sri Lanka's\r\ninstitutions, including the judiciary.\"  In May 2007, the\r\nAsian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) issued a report\r\noutlining its \"serious concerns\" about Sri Lanka's judiciary.\r\n The report focused on \"power increasingly arbitrarily\r\nexercised by the Chief Justice\" and recommended an\r\nindependent inquiry into \"outstanding questions of abuse of\r\npower on the part of Sri Lanka's Chief Justice.\"  Likewise,\r\nTransparency International reported this year that\r\n\"corruption is one outcome of Sri Lanka's cowed judiciary.\r\nThe situation has worsened since 1999 when Sarath De Silva\r\nwas appointed Chief Justice.\"  The report also recommended an\r\ninquiry into allegations against De Silva. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>10. (C)  Aziz told us he feared the \"rule of law was breaking \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000920  004 OF 004 \r\n\r\ndown.\"  Pieris said De Silva is potentially dangerous for the\r\nnation because he will be the ultimate reviewer of any\r\nnegotiated peace settlement between the Liberation Tigers of\r\nTamil Eelam (LTTE) and the GSL. Pieris said legal observers\r\nfear that De Silva would review any negotiated peace\r\nsettlement not with objective judicial scrutiny, but rather,\r\npolitically, as he did in the 2006 North and East de-merger\r\ncase.  The AHRC said in its 2007 report, \"The\r\nconstitutionality of any political proposals concerning the\r\nongoing conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the\r\nLTTE has ultimately to be taken before the Supreme Court.  In\r\nthe context of the current undermining of the independence of\r\nthe Court, the ultimate fate of these proposals remain in the\r\npale of political decision making and not in the sphere of\r\nobjective judicial scrutiny.\" \r\n\r\nPRESIDENT'S HANDS ARE TIED\r\n-------------------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>11. (C)  Thus far, President Rajapaksa has remained publicly\r\nsilent on De Silva and his recent rulings, but there is\r\nlittle doubt he is unhappy with the Chief Justice.  Supreme\r\nCourt Justice Jagath Balapatabandhi (strictly protect) told\r\nour political FSN that, in mid-May, President Rajapaksa\r\nprivately asked De Silva to retire.  He said the President\r\nidentified Supreme Court Justice Nihal Jayasinghe as his\r\ndesired replacement.  Pieris told us Jayasinghe is the fourth\r\nmost senior on the bench and known as more pliable than De\r\nSilva.  If De Silva does not voluntarily retire, the\r\nPresident would have to convince Parliament to impeach De\r\nSilva to put his man in the Chief Justice's seat, which is\r\nunlikely given De Silva's current level of public support.\r\nDe Silva retires in 2009. In the meantime, President\r\nRajapaksa consistently appoints Jayasinghe over the more\r\nsenior Shirani Bandaranayake as acting chief justice when De\r\nSilva is away. \r\n\r\n\u00b6<\/a>12. (C)  COMMENT:  The public widely hailed the Supreme\r\nCourt's recent decisions as an independent stand against the\r\nGovernment to protect the rights of people and punish\r\ncorruption.  It appears, however, these cases were not\r\ndecided entirely on their merits and, in at least in several\r\ninstances, stem from the political ambitions of a charismatic\r\nand powerful chief justice. The Court may be independent, but\r\ndoes not appear to be fully objective.  De Silva's recent\r\ndecisions against the President tracks closely with the\r\nPresident's declining support within his governing coalition\r\nand mounting international criticism of his administration.\r\nIn the absence of any forceful persuasion by the President or\r\na resurgence in the President's popularity, De Silva can be\r\nexpected to continue to decide future cases according to what\r\nhe thinks will win him the most political mileage and popular\r\nsupport. \r\n\r\nMOORE<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":8,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2187,1,2375,27],"tags":[3354,1255,3352,3353,3351,1996,3350],"class_list":["post-49888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-most-popular","category-news","category-stories","category-wikileaks","tag-bhavani-fonseka-cpa","tag-chandrika-bandaranaike-kumaratunga-in-wikileaks","tag-chief-justice-shirani-bandaranayake-in-wikileaks","tag-corruption-in-sri-lankas-judiciary","tag-mahinda-rajapaksa-in-wikileaks","tag-sarath-silva-in-wikileaks","tag-sri-lankas-judiciary-in-wikileaks"],"yoast_head":"\nWikiLeaks: EX CJ Sarath Silva\u2019s Judicial Pedigree  - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-ex-cj-sarath-silvas-judicial-pedigree\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WikiLeaks: EX CJ Sarath Silva\u2019s Judicial Pedigree  - 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