Police arrested six people who took part in a protest march through Colombo on Friday organised by the Frontline Socialist Party and an allied people’s movement, the Police Media Spokesperson said.
The six were arrested on allegations of unlawful assembly and using loudspeakers without prior permission, Hiru News reported. Further legal action is to be taken against them.
The demonstration was called against the government’s tax policies and the rising cost of living, according to Newswire, which reported that the march set out from near Campbell Park in Borella and proceeded through the city toward the Fort Railway Station.
The procession was large enough to close down traffic along its route. Earlier in the day, Hiru reported heavy congestion between Borella and Maradana attributed by police to the march, with motorists advised to take alternative routes. Police said they had taken measures to manage traffic in the affected areas.
What the accounts differ on
The outlets name the FSP’s partner organisation differently — Hiru calls it the “People’s Struggle Alliance”, Newswire gives the Sinhala name Jana Aragala Viyaparaya, which translates as the People’s Struggle Movement. Reports also place the end point of the march variously at the Fort Railway Station and in the Pettah area near the Central Bus Stand. Ada Derana’s account of the arrests could not be retrieved.
Neither source names any of the six, says whether they were released or produced before a magistrate, or gives a figure for how many people joined the march. Neither reports any injuries, any use of force to disperse the crowd, or any response from the FSP to the arrests.
The charges are the familiar ones
Unlawful assembly and unauthorised use of loudspeakers are the two offences most routinely cited when police break up street demonstrations in Colombo, and arrests on those grounds at FSP-organised protests have recurred over several years. Neither is a charge about the content of the protest; both turn on permits and public-order procedure.
What is reported here is the arrest, not a conviction. No charge has been filed in court on the available accounts, and the allegations have not been tested.
