EU clarifies ‘Foreign judges’

The European Union Charge d’ Affairs in Colombo says the headline “EU does not insist on Foreign Judges” on Page 1 of the Sunday Observer of July 17 does not accurately represent his views expressed in the published interview.

Charged d’ Affairs Paul Godfrey stated:

“The EU supports High Commissioner Prince Zeid’s assessment in the original resolution that there would be the need to involve Commonwealth and Foreign personnel in the judicial mechanism. Our principal focus is the quality and credibility of the process, something which can meet the needs of the various victims across the country, including the victims of LTTE atrocities and violence. They need to have confidence in the mechanism. For some, the assurance of that credibility requires international involvement. But we will wait to see what the government proposes, and look at the elements of that process, so that we can extend our support, if necessary.”