President imposes new head of Supreme Court

Guinea-Bissau President Kumba Yala has promised to allow the country's Supreme Court to elects its own officers, but invoked strong protest from opposition parties for imposing his choice to head the body, Lusa reported on Thursday. The Portuguese news agency reported that Antonio Sedja Man was appointed President of the Supreme Court by presidential decree and took office on Wednesday. It was at Man's inaugural ceremony that Yala announced the court would soon be able to elect its own officers, as guaranteed under the constitution, Lusa reported. The United Opposition, an umbrella of 10 parties, called Man's appointment a violation of the constitution, Lusa added. It reported that Man replaced another Yala appointee, Mario Lopes, who died in a Senegalese hospital two weeks ago. Yala named Lopes as Supreme Court president last October after unilaterally dismissing and jailing the court's elected president and vice president on allegations of corruption. The two former judges, recently released to await trial in Bissau, have denied the charges.