Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement condemns union leader’s arrest, calls for release
ECONOMYNEXT – The arrest of trade union leader Joseph Stalin is part of a campaign of suppression launched by Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremasinghe’s government against free expression and other fundamental rights, the Free Media Movement said.
Stalin, who is general secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union, was arrested on Wednesday August 03 by a police team that arrived in several jeeps, reportedly for holding a protest on May 28 in violation of a court order.
The Free Media Movement (FMM) in a statement issued next morning condemned the arrest, calling for Stalin’s immediate release.
“What is amusing about this is that Saman Rathnapriya, who was at the frontlines of the same protest, was appointed by the president as the director general of trade unions just two days prior,” said the FMM.
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In its statement, the FMM called into questioned what it claimed was government overreach in clamping down on the youth-led Aragalaya (Struggle) protest movement. It also criticised the arrests of various individuals including media personnel and social media activists in connection with the protests.
The seizure of a British national’s passport for her social media coverage of the anti-government protests was also criticised by the organisation.
The appointment of the incumbent president was immediately followed by a state of emergency that has been used to violate the right to protest which is part of freedom of speech, the FMM said.
“At a time when Sri Lankan citizens are exercising their democratic rights at an unprecedented level, it is the FMM’z observation that this suppressive course of action is anti-democratic and leans towards a dictatorship. It is an unwise move that will bring shame to the country internationally and worsen the present crisis and goes against the president’s throne speech in parliament,” it said. (Colombo/Aug04/2022)
