In response, the protesters filed appeals with the Court of Appeals. They arrested the main leaders of the popular agitations. The population says that they cannot trust Wickremesinghe, that the government does not understand their suffering.
Colombo () – The police have ordered the protesters who are still “illegally” occupying the Galle Face Green urban park, in the center of the capital, to leave the area before 5:00 pm tomorrow. Leaders of the main unions were arrested along with some students and activists involved in the anti-government protests.
After presenting four appeals to the Court of Appeals to request that the police orders be suspended, the protesters took to the streets again today. It has been 117 days since the demonstrations began against former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his executive, who had allowed protesters to occupy Galle Face Green as a “legal protest site.”
The country is experiencing the worst economic crisis since its independence in 1948. The island country announced default in April, declaring itself insolvent with a debt of more than 50,000 million dollars. The country has been unable to import fuel for months and inflation has exceeded 50%, which prevents citizens from purchasing basic necessities, particularly food and medicine.
The police said that legal action will be taken against those who do not comply with the authorities’ demands. According to prosecutor Nuwan Bopage, in recent days more than 100 people have been arrested who, repeating the slogan “RanilGoGama” (Ranil go home), also called for the resignation of the new president Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Among those detained, there are some familiar faces, such as Joseph Stalin, general secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union, and Kosgoda Mahanama Thero, a young Buddhist monk close to university students.
Urban Development Minister Prasanna Ranatunga stated that the protesters should be allocated a new space, because the places that are close to the Presidential Palace are not suitable.
Last month, thousands of people occupied government buildings and forced former President Rajapaksa to flee, who subsequently sent his resignation by email. Wickremasinghe said that the originally genuine protest movement is now controlled by subversive or anarchist elements seeking to destabilize the country.
Nuzly Hameem, one of the most prominent faces of the Galle Face protests, commenting on the police announcement said that the protesters will resort to legal means: “This place was assigned by the government itself and we have been here for more than four months,” he said. .
“The government believes we have no homes to return to and no jobs to think about. They really don’t understand the suffering of the people, they don’t understand the hunger we have and the pain we are going through,” a woman participating in the protest told . “Yesterday the president said that he would not bother us, but then there were arrests. We can no longer trust this man,” she added.
In recent days, teachers and parents have also started holding short protests in front of schools after school hours.
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