Colombo: Hundreds of lawyers in Sri Lanka today took to street, demanding resignation of Chief Justice Mohan Peiris, who was appointed by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa after the impeachment of the country's first woman top judge allegedly out of personal vendetta.
Peiris, a confidante of Rajapaksa, was inducted in office in January 2013 after the impeachment and sacking of his predecessor Shirani Bandaranayake on corruption charges despite protests by rights groups, citizens, clergy and lawyers.
Bandaranayake's removal was pronounced unlawful by courts and also condemned by international community. It was cited even in the UN Human Rights Council resolutions adopted against the Rajapaksa administration.
She had denied all the charges against her and alleged that she had been sacked by Rajapaksa "through improper procedure due to personal vendetta".
Several lawyers had vehemently protested against the sacking of Bandaranayake and vowed not to cooperate with Peiris.
"We want him to go with dignity," Upul Jayasuriya, the Chairman of the lawyers' body, Bar Association of Sri Lanka said today.
"We will give him time until tomorrow to resign, if he did not we shall be back here protesting tomorrow," Sunil Watagala, a lawyer said.
In the run up to the January 8 presidential election, the joint opposition had pledged to restore Bandaranayake in her position as the 43rd Chief Justice.
Kuala Lumpur : Police in mainly Muslim Malaysia arrested 29 people including two auxiliary police officers in a raid on an birthday party which they said Monday had turned into a drug-fuelled orgy.
Officers were called to a hotel in the town of Klang near the capital Kuala Lumpur early Sunday after a complaint about noise in one of the rooms.
Ten women and 19 men were arrested while drugs including heroin, ecstasy and ketamine were impounded, police said.
"We suspect it to be a sex orgy cum birthday party," said North Klang police chief Mohamad Shukor Sulong.
A police officer involved in the investigation told AFP on condition of anonymity that all 29 were ethnic Malays, who belong to the multi-cultural country`s Muslim majority, and ranged in age from 20 to 35.
"They brought girls, drugs and beer to celebrate the birthday party," the officer said.
Premarital sex and lewd behaviour are deeply frowned upon in Malaysia, which has traditionally practised a relatively moderate brand of Islam yet remains conservative on sexual issues.
Muslims who are merely caught alone in a secluded place with a member of the opposite sex who is not a relation can face up to two years` jail and a fine.
Muslims make up more than half the country`s nearly 30 million people.
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