Philippines President Rodrigo
Duterte has told a UNhuman 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 García-Sayán,
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 US President
Barack Obama and UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial
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.
