Sri Lanka opposition MP barred from visiting arrested protestor - new version of Lankan democracy under Rajapakse-Ranil regime !

Sri Lanka’s Prison Commissioner has prevented main opposition legislator Harsha De Silva from visiting activists from the GotaGoGama protest site who are being held under arrest.

“It’s now five days since Prisons Commissioner stopped me from visiting Gota Go Home activist Pathum Kerner violating my right as an MP to check on the well-being of any prisoner in #SriLanka,” de Silva tweeted Thursday, August 04 morning.

Kerner a prominent voice at Sri Lanka’s youth-led Aragalaya (the Struggle) protest campaign was arrested on July 28 in connection with violent incidents during a protest held at the Polduwa Junction near Parliament on July 13. Other protestors have tried to distance themselves from this specific protest due to its apparent association with a call to surround parliament. It also saw a clash between participants and security personnel that left several injured.

A travel ban has also been imposed on Kerner who had allegedly attempted o break through police barricades, the main reason for his arrest.

MP de Silva said he left the premises after obtaining assurance that the prison department would provide in writing the supposed court order preventing an MP from visiting Kerner on grounds of the ID parade.

“I got a letter from Dr. Kerner copied to me and sent to President Ranil Wickremesinghe seeking independent investigation on what happened that day,” the MP tweeted.

de Silva who had expressed views of being on the same page as President Wickremesinghe after the latter’s inauguration speech in parliament, later said via Twitter that the government must stop arbitrary arrests of non-violent protestors of GoGotaGama while those who mercilessly attacked them roam free inside parliament.

“This will ruin the chances of success of an all/multi-party #SriLanka government.”

During the inauguration speech, Wickremesinghe said an all/multi-party government must be formed to overcome Sri Lanka’s worst economic meltdown since independence. (Colombo/Aug04/2022)