At least 50 injured when security forces demolished protest camp in Sri Lanka – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries

According to an AFP reporter, security forces and police reportedly attacked the unarmed activists who blocked the presidential office, just hours before they were due to leave the area. The soldiers were armed with automatic weapons and batons and several people, including journalists, were beaten during the action. When daylight came, the last tents were torn down by the soldiers. According to the protesters, at least 50 people were injured, including journalists who were beaten by the security forces, writes Reuters. The head of the Sri Lankan Bar Association, the influential Saliya Peiris, condemned the action, saying it could damage the new government’s reputation internationally. – Unnecessary use of brute force will not help the country, says Peiris, who also says that several people have been arrested, including a lawyer. A protester howls as soldiers remove their tents at the protest camp in Colombo on Friday night. Photo: Rafiq Maqbool / AP Roads blocked During the action, the main roads to the area were blocked off so that no one could join the protesters. Sri Lanka is currently in its worst economic crisis in decades and is experiencing, among other things, acute fuel shortages. Last week, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the island nation after months of demonstrations and unrest. Protesters believe the authorities are to blame for the economic disaster the country has fallen into. A protester tries to talk to a soldier at the protest camp on Friday night. Photo: Rafiq Maqbool / AP Says he is the people’s friend On Wednesday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the new president. He had previously warned the protesters that the occupation of the government buildings was illegal. Wickremesinghe’s home was set on fire on the same day Rajapaksa fled the country. – If you try to overthrow the authorities, occupy the president and the prime minister’s office, that is not democracy. It is illegal, says Wickremesinghe. He has declared a state of emergency and given more power to the armed forces. The police have been given permission to detain suspects for long periods without charging them. Protesters have accused Wickremesinghe of being a proxy for the former president’s powerful family. – I am not a friend of the Rajapaksas. I am a friend of the people, says Wickremesinghe. (NTB) A Buddhist monk films the soldiers storming the protest camp in Colombo on Friday night. Photo: Rafiq Maqbool / AP



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