COLOMBO – The Sri Lanka Committee for Solidarity with Palestine (SLCSP) has expressed profound disappointment over the recent arrest of a 22-year-old activist under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Act) for posting an anti-Israel, anti-USA, anti-Trump sticker, and demanded his immediate and unconditional release.
The SLCSP, in statement condemning the arrest, noted the youth was exercising his fundamental right to free speech to express his dissent against the ongoing genocide in Gaza, emphasized that the Sri Lankan Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and numerous court rulings have upheld the guarantee.
“Therefore, we strongly believe the activist’s action, which involved expressing, among other atrocities, the opposition to the massacres of civilians, including innocent children, in Gaza, fall within the scope of this fundamental right,” it said, deeming as unacceptable the law enforcement’s arbitrary application of the PTA in the arrest of the youth.
In demanding the immediate and unconditional release of the youth activist, the SLCSP has unequivocally rejected any attempt to equate peaceful expression of dissent with acts of terrorism.
Opposition to the Israeli genocide in Gaza, settler violence in occupied West Bank and US-Europe complicty in Israel’s brutality, especially against, women and children, have been consistent in Sri Lanka with, many taking to the streets to demand an end to the bombardment and justice for Palestinians. Protests have also sprung up against the Israeli infiltration of local businesses, in the Northeast and the South Sri Lanka.
There have been reports in the local media of Israeli entities taking over businesses, especially in the tourism sector, including surfing hotspots and setting up of places of worship in several places across the country. These businesses, while mostly unauthorised and illegal, create tensions and friction among communities and raises security concerns, all of which pose a potential threat to the burgeoning tourism sector.
Sri Lanka has a long history of solidarity with Palestine, and its people have repeatedly rejected Israel’s oppressive policies, and activists have called upon the National People’s Power (NPP) government to take a clear, firm stance against Israel’s crimes and to uphold the democratic rights of Sri Lankans to express solidarity with Palestine.
-ENCL
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