INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Manila: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has told a UN human rights expert who said the country's judicial
independence was under threat to "go to hell", warning against interference in domestic affairs.The Philippine Supreme Court voted last
month to remove Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, whom Duterte had called an "enemy" for voting against controversial government
proposals, citing violations in the way she was appointed.Her dismissal is sending a chilling message to other supreme court judges and
members of the judiciary, Diego Garcia-Sayan, special UN rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, said on Friday."Tell him not
to interfere with the affairs of my country
He can go to hell," Duterte told a news conference late Saturday night, prior to leaving for an official visit to South Korea.The outspoken
Philippine leader is known for defying international pressure and his diatribes against critics.In particular, he has railed against former
President Barack Obama and U.N
special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Agnes Callamard, for criticising the bloody war on drugs, his signature public safety
project.Sereno, the first chief justice to be removed by her peers, had voted against several of the Duterte's proposals including the
extension of martial rule in the volatile southern Philippines.© Thomson Reuters 2018(This story has not been edited by
TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
