Sri Lankan minister alleged of threatening a judge asks IPU for a mission to observe judicial proceedings

Sri Lanka's Minister of Industries & Commerce Rishad Bathiyutheen has written to the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) requesting a mission to observe judicial proceedings in the case against him over threatening a judge. Minister Bathiyutheen has written to the IPU about the cases against him in Colombo and Mannar over the allegation that he had intimidated the Mannar Magistrate.
He has informed the IPU that these proceedings would take place in a hostile environment created by one-sided reports in the media and as a result of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) adopting an aggressive stance towards him. He has explained that the BASL was engaged in a country wide boycott of attending legal proceedings accusing him. "The resulting position is that I am presently called upon to answer charges of a criminal nature in two courts whilst the CID investigations are still pending," the Minister has written. The Magistrate Court of Mannar has issued notice to the Minister to appear before the court on August 27th while the Court of Appeals has ordered the Minister to personally appear before the court on September 5th to show cause why he should not be punished for contempt of court. "The vindictive role of the Bar Association and the hostility generated by the partisan presentation in the media has caused me grave concern which is aggravated by the fact that there are political and communal undertones," the Minister has said in the letter. "The environment thereby generated is one of great prejudice against me. Section of the press has also made a concerted effort to sensationalize the incident by seeking to unduly make this out as symptomatic of a clash between the Executive and the Judiciary. As such I am firmly convinced that the appearance of observers from the Inter Parliamentary Union would be a significant contribution towards ensuring that justice prevails," Bathiyutheen has added. Minister Bathiyutheen is accused of threatening the Mannar judge, A. Judeson, asking him to revoke a ruling he made regarding resettled Muslims fishermen in Mannar. The Minister has denied all the allegations made against him.