Legal action to be sought against HRCSL officials over coercion

The officials who took part in the recent discussion with the Human Rights Council of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) pertaining to the uninterrupted supply of electricity during the 2022 GCE Advanced Level Examination, intend on taking legal action against officials of HRCSL, following the incident where the group was coerced into signing certain documents.

Accordingly, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera stated that the officials who took part in the discussion have already sought legal opinions pertaining to the steps required to be taken against the HRCSL members in question.

Wijesekera added that President Ranil Wickremesinghe too, has been informed of the incident, adding that written submissions of the event that transpired have also been handed over.

Meanwhile, the Minister himself is due to inform the Constitutional Council, in writing, of the incident.

Wijesekera was informed by the Secretary to the Ministry yesterday (26 Jan.) of the incident in which the officials in question, who had taken part in the discussion, had been pressurized into signing two documents by two officials of the HRCSL, after having been threatened with jail sentences.

On Wednesday evening (25 Jan.), the HRCSL convened an urgent meeting with the top officials of the CEB, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) ,the Ministry of Power & Energy and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), during which an agreement was reached not to impose power cuts during this period in order to minimize the inconvenience caused to the students sitting for the exam.