Sri Lanka Attorney General’s Office prevented the evacuation of the protest camp set up this Friday More than a hundred days ago, hours before the deadline for the deportation of demonstrators in the center of Colombo, the epicenter of the civil movement due to the economic crisis in the country.
“The Attorney General has promised not to remove these facilities without due process and court order. That means that. they cannot arbitrarily remove these sitesLawyer Nuwan Bopage, one of the activists’ representatives, told Efe.
Accordingly, the camp, known as “Gota Go Gama”, located in Galle Face park right next to the Presidential Secretariat, will be able to continue in the region until 10 August.
The decision came after the protesters filing five appeals to the Court of Appeal Against the evacuation reported by the police last Wednesday, the occupants were required to leave the area by 5 pm (11:30 GMT) this Friday.
Shortly before the prosecutor’s tip became known, footage released by Sri Lankan media and social networks showed protesters demolishing structures that housed the movement for four months.
A library, a conference center, an art gallery, a screening room, a press office and even an organic garden, was part of the improvised nature of the protests.
“I’ve been here since April 17th (at GotaGoGama). First I slept on the street, then I went to the communal kitchen and started helping the cooks. We made sure no one was hungry. They are like my family. I’m sorry this is over“, said Efe Sarath Raja, one of the camp residents.
The camp has turned coordination center for street demonstrations He took a stand against the government due to the economic crisis that gripped the country, and more than four months later the movement secured the resignation of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Although this resignation and election of the new government was the main demand of the protests, many leaders and protesters remained in their places after Parliament appointed the former prime minister of the former president Ranil Wickremesinghe to replace Rajapaksa.
Since taking office on 21 July, the Wickremesinghe Government has several ultimatums to the protesters He was attacked and kidnapped by demonstrators, starting from the Presidency Secretariat on July 9, the day when the protests were at their peak.
“We broke up about two weeks ago, before the police made this announcement, because we already won our fightHe would force Rajapaksa to resign. “If the public wants this president to resign, we have to start over,” an activist who preferred to be named told Efe.
In the midst of the worst economic crisis in its history, Sri Lankans have been struggling for months with fewer resources, rated utilities, and access to scarce essentials such as fuel, cooking gas, milk, some food and medicine.
The new government tried alleviating discontent by implementing measures to apportion the few available inputsHe expects to positively negotiate a bailout program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that will allow him to restore the fiscal balance.
“It’s definitely going to be a tough time. I’m not going to say no. The first six months will be difficult. Wickremesinghe, who sees the IMF bailout as the only way out, said today, “It will be a period we haven’t seen before, but we have to get through it.”