Opposition cries foul as cops in civvies arrest Sri Lanka student union leader

ECONOMYNEXT – A university student union leader in Sri Lanka was arrested by policemen in civvies in the early hours of Friday (06), the latest in a series of similar arrests that opposition MPs claim are emblematic of an alleged “law of the jungle” the government is trying to perpetuate.

Footage aired on the privately owned NewsFirst network showed Inter-University Students’ Federation (IUSF) Convenor Wasantha Mudalige being handcuffed and arrested by police officers dressed in civilian clothing around 3am Friday after the threewheeler he had been in was stopped by traffic police.

When Mudalige demanded to know what he had done, a uniformed officer that arrived at the scene minutes later was heard telling him that he had damaged state property.

The union leader was then seen being driven off in a police jeep.

University of Sri Jayawardenapura University Students’ Federation Chairman Amila Sandeepa was also arrested Thursday night for allegedly injuring a police officer on duty.

Police spokesman Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) Ajith Rohana said Friday that the students had been behind a protest near the parliament complex on Wednesday (04) where a tense situation had arisen between protestors and police.

The Maharagama Police Officer in Charge (OIC) who was at the demonstration had been injured in the incident.

“The OIC lost two of his fingers forever. There are also reports of public property being damaged,” Rohana said in a media statement explaining the arrests.

School teachers and principals in Sri Lanka have been taking to the streets since early June, as part of trade union action over an unresolved salary anomaly and in opposition to a controversial defence university bill. Daily protests in different parts of the island organised by teachers’ unions attracting large crowds of teachers have led to fears of new outbreaks of COVID-19.

In solidarity with the teachers, other parties, unions, university students and lecturers have either joined or have organied their own protests, with a repeal of the controversial Kotelawala National Defence University (KNDU) bill chief among their demands.

This week saw 53 protestors arrested, 44 of whom have been released on bail so far.

According to the police spokesman, the IUSF convenor is among five new arrests made on Thursday.

“And three others who had violated quarantine regulations and transported protestors to the demonstration in vans,” he said.

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa visited the two student leaders Friday morning.

“We see that the government is on a suppressive path of destroying democracy. This is a tragic situation. Our wish is to democratically solve these death blows to our democracy,” Premadasa told reporters outside the Thalangama police station.

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) leader and MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake raised the matter in parliament Friday morning.

“I want to know how people are being arrested [by police] without uniform, in t-shirts, on the bus. Yesterday there was an attempt to arrest USJ lecturer Aminda Lakmal. No uniforms, no mention of a station, just a t-shirt,” he said.

“What if tomorrow an underworld gang clad in t-shirts start abducing people You are not acting as an official government but as a jungle police. Put an end to this,” he added.

Premadasa, who also spoke in parliament, echoed Dissanayake.

“It’s not the supremacy of the law we see in this country, but the supremacy of the law of the jungle,” he said.

Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara responding to the allegations sadi: “We don’t try to influence the police, but I have asked the Inspector General of Police about these particular arrests and he will submit a report.”