Honduran magistrates denounce "illegal" destitution

Four members of the Constitutional Court of Honduras dismissed by parliament on 12 December denounced the move as "totally illegitimate, illegal and unjust" and violating the separation of powers, adding they would consider their legal options, the Honduran daily El Heraldo reported. The four read out a joint communiqué to the press in Tegucicalpa on the afternoon of 12 December declaring that their dismissal "obviously follows political not juridical reasons," and defended their earlier rulings as legal and reasoned. Parliament and the government made a ruling issued in November by the magistrates, which declared unconstitutional parts of the government's drive to purge the police force of corrupt officers, the basis of moves to dismiss the judges. The Speaker of the National Congress or parliament Juan Orlando Hernández said the destitution had been "traumatic" but not politically motivated; the move he added was with the backing of the President Porfirio Lobo Sosa and the head of the judiciary and president of the Supreme Court Jorge Rivera Avilés, El Heraldo reported. He said "we discussed it with the President...and reached the consensus that it was necessary for the good of the country," while Rivera began to contact possible successors before the destitution process. President Lobo was separately reported as saying on 12 December that he would in following days convene the heads of the legislature and judiciary and other key political figures to initiate an "ample and open" dialogue intended to find a collaborative solution to the crisis.