Sri Lanka cracks down on activists; opposition wants 'witch-hunt' to stop

On August 3, veteran Sri Lankan trade union leader Joseph Stalin was arrested by police while in his office. The arrest was condemned both domestically and internationally. “The work of Human Rights Defenders like Joseph has been more important than ever in recent weeks & must be supported, not punished,” tweeted Mary Lawlor, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders after the arrest. 

Stalin was remanded till August 15 a day later after being produced in court on charges of holding a protest demonstration in May in violation of a court order.

He is not alone, however. The General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union, he is the most senior trade union leader to be arrested since Parliament elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as President on July 20.

Stalin joins a growing list of activists involved in the “Aragalaya” (Struggle) that came together under the “Gota Go Home” banner. The movement was ultimately successful in forcing former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign – the first ever instance in the country’s history of a President stepping down before the end of his term.

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Military action

Within 24 hours of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s swearing-in, the military moved in and violently cleared protesters out of a section of the main protest site dubbed “Gota Go Gama” (Gota Go Village) near the Presidential Secretariat. Tents were demolished and unarmed protesters were assaulted, with several also being arrested. The widely condemned pre-dawn raid occurred despite protesters issuing a public declaration that they will be vacating the Presidential Secretariat that afternoon.

The crackdown on protesters is happening under a State of Emergency, which then Acting President Wickremesinghe imposed on July 18. Parliament ratified the Emergency on July 27. It gives extensive powers to both police and the military to arrest suspects, who can be held for up to 72 hours without being produced before a magistrate. Opposition politicians and human rights groups have criticised the Emergency regulations as some of the most draconian and repressive on record.

The past two weeks have seen arrests of leading activists linked to the struggle.

On July 27, a group of police officers arrived at a church in Ratnapura in south-central Sri Lanka. They were looking to arrest Fr. Jeewantha Peiris, who is attached to the church. The Catholic priest has been working with marginalised communities in the area for years and is one of the most recognisable faces of peaceful protests that had been taking place in Colombo for the past four months.

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Fr. Peiris was not in the church at the time and has spent the past week in hiding following the incident. Police have also obtained an overseas travel ban against him and five other activists. The priest has since filed a fundamental petition in the Supreme Court seeking an order preventing his arrest.

Activist removed from flight

On July 26, activist Dhaniz Ali was pulled off a flight bound for Dubai and produced before a magistrate. He had been one of the leaders of a group that stormed the main state television channel on July 9, demanding that the channel devote its coverage solely for the struggle. Videos appearing on social media show Ali being forcibly removed from the plane despite the vocal protests of some passengers. He is currently in remand custody.

On the same day, policemen in plain clothes took student activist Anthony Weranga Pushpika from a public bus in Colombo in what other activists termed “an abduction.” A subsequent statement from police said Pushpika was arrested on charges of violating a court order and being part of an unlawful assembly, criminal intimidation of police officers and causing damage to state property during protests held on May 19, June 9 and June 10.

Other activists who had been arrested include social media activist Pathum Kerner. A former army medic, he is accused of instigating mobs to attack soldiers during a protest near Parliament on the night of July 13, where two soldiers were savagely beaten and their assault rifles stolen. Rathindu Senaratne, popularly known by his social media name “Ratta,” was arrested after he reported to police to provide a statement. Both activists have since been given bail.

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In July last year, while he was still an opposition parliamentarian, Wickremesinghe had warned the then government specifically against targeting a famous trade union leader such as Joseph Stalin, stating that it could result in the government losing international assistance. 

This was after Stalin was arrested following a protest against the militarisation of the education system. He had also staunchly backed the struggle, even when he joined the government and became Prime Minister following Mahinda Rajapaksa’s resignation. He even set up a “Prime Minister’s Delegation to Gota Go Gama” to directly liaise with the protesters.

Wickremesinghe’s attitude

Wickremesinghe’s attitude has changed markedly in recent weeks. It began when a mob set fire to his private residence in Colombo on July 9, causing extensive damage and destroying a valuable personal library containing more than 2,500 books. 

In a video message released on July 11, a visibly emotional Wickremesinghe lamented that the library was his only treasure and that it contained several rare books, including some that were several hundred years old. He said he and his wife had made arrangements to donate their books to several libraries in the country. All those books and many valuable paintings he owned had been destroyed in the fire, Wickremesinghe claimed. He charged that only those with a “Hitler-like mindset” would torch buildings in this manner.

He would carry on his attacks against the struggle once he became Acting President, describing protesters who stormed and occupied the Prime Minister’s office on July 13 as “fascists.” Those in his government took up these attacks. Many government MPs who spoke during the Parliamentary debate held on July 27 to approve of Wickremesinghe’s proclamation of a State of Emergency likened the activities of the protesters to “terrorism.”

It’s not just the perceived leaders of the struggle who have been targeted. Police have arrested dozens of suspects over the past two weeks over the storming and forcible occupation of the President’s official residence known as “President’s House,” Presidential Secretariat, Prime Minister’s official residence known as “Temple Trees” and the Prime Minister’s office.

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Among those arrested so far is a person accused of stealing an iron from the President’s House and another charged with taking home a beer mug as a souvenir. The first person to enter the President’s House as well as another who sat on the President’s chair and uploaded photographs on to Facebook too were arrested. Police have also arrested a man who took Gotabaya’s official flag. Four men who were filmed counting LKR 17 million in cash that was found at the President’s House too were arrested, despite them handing over the cash to the police the same day. They were later released on bail.

Act of revenge

Many activists see the arrests as an attempt to exact revenge on those involved in the struggle. Wickremesinghe was elected President by the votes of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and the vast majority of its MPs are still loyal to the Rajapaksa family, who had been lobbying hard behind the scenes to make him President. Wickremesinghe is seen as a long-time Rajapaksa ally.

While delivering his government’s policy statement at the ceremonial opening of Parliament on August 3, Wickremesinghe addressed the controversy that his government was engaged in a witch-hunt targeting those involved in the struggle.

“Some groups are trying to spread a huge propaganda through social media that I am hunting down the protesters. But it is not true. I will not allow any kind of prejudice to the peaceful activists. I will establish an office to protect the peaceful protesters and support them,” he said.

The President assured that he would act sympathetically towards anyone who participated in “illegal activities” either unknowingly or due to the influence of others, but stressed that legal action will be taken against those found to have engaged in violent and terrorist acts.

The President also called on protesters to leave “unauthorised places” to assist in maintaining law and order.

Just hours after the conclusion of the address to Parliament, police issued an ultimatum to protesters who still occupied a portion of Galle Face – leave by 5 pm on August 5 or face legal action. Some groups did dismantle their tents and leave but others vowed to remain, with four petitions being filed in the Court of Appeal requesting an order to halt any attempt to remove protesters. With hours to go before the expiration of the deadline, the Attorney General gave an undertaking to the court that the temporary structures will not be removed before August 10. The case continues.

Yet pressure is growing on Wickremesinghe to take a step back. He is desperately trying to form an all-party government to help navigate the country out of its economic crisis. Opposition parties who have met him to discuss the proposal to form such a government are insisting that he first stop the “witch-hunt” against activists and end the State of Emergency.