Sri Lanka: ten arrested for demanding action on former minister
Event- Country
- Sri Lanka
- Initial Date
- Jan 31, 2024
- Event Description
Ten protesters, eight men and two women, were arrested today outside the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters in Colombo.
The group had been demonstrating since morning, demanding the arrest of former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella for his alleged involvement in a recent drug procurement scandal.
Police spokesperson DIG Nihal Talduwa confirmed the arrests and stated that despite repeated warnings and attempts to disperse the gathering peacefully, the protesters continued their sit-in protest, prompting police intervention.
Meanwhile, Former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella issued a statement this afternoon acknowledging the summons from the CID but claiming his inability to present himself due to conflicting commitments.
He cited a scheduled appearance at the Colombo High Court in another case and his participation in a meeting of the Ministerial Sub-committee on Public Expenditure Management, chaired by the President, as reasons for his absence.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Freedom of expression
- Offline
- Right to liberty and security
- Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 6.938731884583752
Longitude: 79.8630141353599
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 31 January 2024, ten community-based demonstrators, including two WHRDs, were arrested by the police for holding a protest to demand the arrest of a former minister involved in a drug scandal in Colombo, Sri Lanka.