protesters leave protest sites

Following a series of arrests, the activists left the Galle Face Green urban park on their own initiative. Some insist on the need to change strategy against Ranil Wicremesinghe. The new president is accused of participating in the torture of communists between 1988 and 1989.

Colombo () – The protesters of Aragalaya, the “fight” against the Sri Lankan government, withdrew the four petitions presented to the Court of Appeal in relation to the eviction order issued by the government a few days ago. The local police had ordered that the site be vacated by August 5 and the Attorney General had announced that the unauthorized installations would be removed by August 10.

The demonstrators who occupied the Galle Face Green urban park, near the institutional buildings of the capital, yesterday left the place of the protest on their own initiative, after carrying out an act of commemoration for the people who sacrificed themselves for the cause in the last months.

There were very few tents left and some people who have declared that they would not leave the place.

“After getting the gas, people forgot about the corruption and the stolen money,” some activists told . “We have stayed a bit on the sidelines because our lives are at stake in the fight for the nation. Many told us to accept the victory of expelling Gotabaya Rajapaksa.”

The former Sri Lankan president is expected to travel to Thailand from Singapore. On July 9, protesters attacked and occupied the presidential residence, forcing him to flee.

Several protesters insisted on the need to change their strategy: “The tactic that was used to expel the Rajapaksa family is not suitable for Ranil,” explained others, referring to the new president Ranil Wickremesinghe, accused of harsh repression against protesters. Local authorities say recent arrests were only made against those who had broken the law.

Religious leaders of all faiths staged a silent protest on August 8 against government arrests and kidnappings. “This situation in Sri Lanka reminds us that the country is once again mired in violence as in the past,” said Father Rohan Silva, director of the Center for Religion and Society. “The current president has earned the bad reputation of ‘assassin of Batalanda,'” added the priest.

Wickremesinghe is accused of having participated in the events related to the Batalanda detention center, where tens of thousands of people belonging to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, a militant communist group, were tortured and killed between 1988 and 1989. An official commission that investigated crimes committed in that prison recommended depriving Wickremesinghe of his civil rights, preventing him from running for political office. No Sri Lankan government has taken legal action in this regard.