Two more Sri Lankan protesters arrested as they brace for national day of protest on Tuesday

Sri Lankan police on Monday arrested two more anti-government public protest leaders as they were preparing for a national day of protest on Tuesday, marking one month since the ouster of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

August 9 marks one month since the ouster of Rajapaksa. He fled the island nation two days later and sent in his resignation from Singapore on July 14.

On July 9, the anti-government protesters stormed Rajapaksa's office-cum-official residence forcing him to flee after continuous protests since early April calling for his resignation for his handling of the worst economic crisis faced by the island nation since 1948.

At least two of the protesters who had defied a court order in May were arrested on Monday while a prominent trade union leader who was arrested last week and had been ordered remand till August 12 was given bail by the court.

Mangala Maddumage and Piyath Nikeshala are the two protesters arrested on Monday.

The police said the magistrate's court had refused two applications to ban the protest action scheduled for Tuesday. The court while refusing the orders said the police have the necessary power to crack down on any unruly protests.

“We will revive the protest action tomorrow”, Duminda Nagamuva of the frontline socialist party told reporters. “People’s suffering continuously with no solutions in sight,'' Nagamuva said.

The protests held in the city on Monday demanded an end to the state of emergency. The emergency was declared by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on July 14 with the breakout of the uprising which forced the fleeing of Rajapaksa. The right and civil society groups accused the Wickremesinghe government of using the emergency regulations to arrest the protesters.

“We have been asked by the UN Colombo office to enter a dialogue with Wickremesinghe. We will only do so if he puts a stop to harassing people by using the emergency”, Joseph Stalin, a leading teachers’ trade union activist told reporters after he had joined a protest straight after being granted bail by the court.

The security in the city is to be tightened on Tuesday, the police said in view of the protest action which is scheduled to take place as well as the sitting of Parliament.

The Parliament meets tomorrow to debate the policy statement Wickremesinghe made last week.

More political parties are also scheduled to meet with the President on Tuesday on the formation of an all-political party government to handle the economic crisis, presidential sources said.