Sri Lanka disaster: US expresses concern over crackdown on protesters
The US on Friday denounced Sri Lankan safety forces’ in a single day crackdown on anti-government protesters as its envoy met newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe and expressed grave concern over the “pointless and deeply troubling” escalation of violence.
Sri Lankan safety forces raided the principle anti-government protest camp on the President’s Secretariat, arresting 9 folks and injuring a number of others, because the protesters continued to occupy the delicate space regardless of the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president.
The resolution to evict the anti-government protesters got here a day after Wickremesinghe was sworn in as president after ex-president Rajapaksa fled the nation final week. Unbowed, the protesters vowed to proceed their efforts to alter their management.
US Ambassador Julie Chung, who met Wickremesinghe to precise grave concern over the “unnecessary and deeply troubling escalation of violence against protesters overnight”, mentioned that the President and the Cabinet have an “opportunity and an obligation” to answer the calls of Sri Lankans for a greater future, an announcement mentioned.
“This will not be the time to crack down on residents however as a substitute to look forward on the instant and tangible steps the federal government can take to regain the belief of the folks, restore stability and rebuild the economic system,” she said.
In a mid night operation, the security forces removed the protesters from the presidential secretariat and cleared the gate they had occupied since April 9.
Sri Lanka’s bar association said two lawyers were also assaulted during the raid. It said nine protesters, including a lawyer, arrested by the police during the crackdown at the presidential secretariat have been granted bail by the Colombo Fort magistrate this evening.
A large number of lawyers were present at the court.
The protesters had vacated the President and Prime Minister’s residences and the Prime Minister’s office earlier after capturing them on July 9, but they were still occupying some rooms of the President’s secretariat at the Galle Face.
The protesters returned to Colombo on Wednesday after Parliament voted in six-time Prime Minister Wickremesinghe as the country’s new president.
They refused to accept Wickremesinghe, 73, as the new president, holding him partly responsible for the country’s unprecedented economic and political crisis.
The protesters, who had been camping at the Secretariat’s gate since April 9 when they started their anti-government protest which resulted in Rajapaksa’s resignation as president last week, posted on social media on Thursday that they were planning to end their protest by 2 pm on Friday.
“There was a debate that we should respect the Constitution and stop this protest,” mentioned a spokesman of the group.
However, the principle protest group which blocked entry to the President’s Office since April 9, mentioned they might proceed their wrestle until Wickremesinghe resigned.
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