Police defend attack on peaceful protesters as Ranil under global fire

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By Editor_1
Soldiers arrive to remove protesters from the site of a protest camp outside the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on July 22, 2022 - Rafiq Maqbool/AP
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COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s police said the forcible eviction of protestors from the Presidential Secretariat was because authorities could not take their word the building would be vacated the next day as promised, even as President Ranil Wickremesinghe came under international fire.

Police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa told reporters the protesters had on different occasions given the police different dates on which they would be vacating the place.  “We were at a place where we couldn’t trust them anymore. That is why the tri-forces and the STF removed these members of an illegal gathering from the place.”

He said the Presidential Secretariat was government property, and the protesters did not have permission to force themselves in and stay there.

Thalduwa also noted that a new president was sworn in, and he did not have a place from which to carry out his duties. “He took oath in Parliament because he couldn’t assume duties at the President’s Palace, Prime Minister’s office or Temple Trees.

Pointing out that the Presidential Secretariat is an office for public benefit, he said it was the duty of the law enforcement officials to have the place cleared of protesters.

Contrary to Thalduwa’s claims, the protestors maintained they had told the Fort Police they would be moving out on Friday (22). The day prior to the forced eviction, they were seen removing banners and other materials from the building.

The protestors had also moved out of the Presidential Palace and Temple Trees as publicly declared earlier.

At least nine persons were arrested after the pre-dawn raid.

The attack had brought international condemnation, while comparisons were made with the actions of the previous president, with senior monk Omalpe Sobitha Thera saying such an attack had not even happened under ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

“We are alarmed by the unnecessary use of force reportedly employed by Sri Lanka’s security forces to break up a protest camp near the presidential office in Colombo – only hours before the protesters indicated that it was due to be dismantled,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said, condemning the beating of protesters, journalists and lawyers.

The European Union and Western nations added their voices to the international condemnation.

“The EU underlines the need of upholding freedom of opinion and expression and individual rights of Sri Lankan citizens in the process of a democratic, peaceful and orderly transition,” the European Union tweeted, noting, “Freedom of expression proved essential to Sri Lanka’s current transition. Hard to see how restricting it severely can help in finding solutions to the current political and economic crises,”

This was in sharp contrast to a tweet posted barely 24 hours early, where the EU said, “Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in today. EU hopes this will lead to an inclusive government with solutions to current political and economic crises. Sri Lanka needs swift economic reform + safeguard individual freedoms and reconciliation efforts. Sri Lanka people can count on EU support.”

Meanwhile, US ambassador Julie Chung, who personally met Wickremesinghe, tweeted, “Just met President Wickremesinghe to express my grave concern over the unnecessary & deeply troubling escalation of violence against protesters overnight. The President & cabinet have an opportunity and an obligation to respond to the calls of Sri Lankans for a better future.”

-economynext.com/ENCL

 

 

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