There have been judges who have fled the country before' - Tamil and Sinhala lawyers rally in Colombo

Tamil lawyers and other legal professionals from across the North-East were joined by their Sinhala counterparts in Colombo today, as they rallied in support of Mullaitivu judge T Saravanarajah, who was forced to flee the island in the face of death threats last month.

The protest was organized by lawyers from across the North-East as an extension of their ongoing indefinite strike after the Tamil judge faced threats and pressure from the Sri Lankan government.

Lawyers carried placards in Tamil, English and Sinhala, with a broad range of representatives present including TNPF spokesperson Kanagaratnam Sugash and TNA parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran.

“Nobody can question the fact that he was under pressure,” Sumanthiran told reporters. “For over a month he was under pressure inside parliament, outside parliament. All those are matters of record.”

“Today we are in a situation where a judge was performing his function had to resign and in his letter of resignation itself, he has said that he has been pressurised... He has left the country out of fear for his life. This is an unprecedented thing.”

Sumanthiran however added that “there have been judges who have fled the country before, who have come under pressure”.

“We know some of their names,” he continued. “But this is the first time a judge just publicly stated in his letter of resignation… that he was brought under pressure. That there were threats on him for performing his judicial function.”

“If one judge had to flee the country out of fear, really we know what is to come tomorrow,” he concluded.

The protest in Colombo follows multiple others that have taken place across the North-East.

The threats and pressure against Saravanarajah stem principally from his involvement in the contentious Kurunthurmalai archaeological site cases. Judge Saravanarajah revealed that various individuals in government had been exerting immense pressure on him to alter his judgements in these cases. He specifically mentioned the threats made by MP Sarath Weerasekara during parliamentary debates and other public forums.