Sri Lankan leader appoints confidante as new chief justice after sacking predecessor
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sri Lanka's president has appointed a trusted aide to replace the chief justice he fired, a move that lawyers and opposition politicians say was illegal.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday swore in his new top judge, Mohan Peiris, a retired attorney general and a legal adviser to the Cabinet. On Sunday, Rajapaksa sacked Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake after a parliamentary committee found her guilty of having unexplained wealth and misuse of power.
Bandaranayake has denied the charges and accused the tribunal of not giving her a fair hearing. Courts have ruled in her favor but the president and Parliament ignored the rulings.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rajapaksa's critics say replacing the chief justice is part of an effort to consolidate government power in the hands of the president's family.