Sri Lanka: two labour rights defenders arrested
Event- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jan 23, 2023
- Event Description
The Spokesperson for the Samagi United Trade Union Balavegaya Ananda Palitha, and Secretary of the Electricity Users' Association Dhammika Sanjeewa, who visited the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka recently to inquire about the attempt to hike electricity tariffs, were arrested on Monday (23) night and were produced in court on Tuesday (24).
They were charged with criminal influence and were remanded to the 26th of January 2023 by Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage.
The case was filed against them for protesting against the members of the Public Utilities Commission during a protest opposite the PUCSL in Colombo.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression
- Offline
- Right to liberty and security
- Right to Protest
- Freedom of expression
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 6.9325715461090525
Longitude: 79.86052093736569
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 23 January 2023, Balavegaya Ananda Palitha and Dhammika Sanjeewa, labour rights defenders, were charged with criminal influence and arrested by the police for taking part in a protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka.