Friday, August 12, 2022

Sri Lanka protest leader Joseph Stalin released on bail

Sri Lanka trade union leader, General Secretary of Ceylon Teachers Union, Joseph Stalin who was arrested on August 3 has been released on bail.

Upon his release on Monday 8 August, Stalin told reporters that Sri Lanka’s youth-led Aragalaya (Struggle) protests will continue against what he called the suppressive actions of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government.
 
“Many protestors and unionists have been arrested using their own selfies taken at the president’s house and prime minister’s office as evidence,” he said.

The defender had been arrested at his office in Colombo by a team of over 25 police officers on 3 August 2022 and was remanded at Fort Police Station. Authorities claim that his arrest is due to a protest carried out in May 2022 in violation of a court order.

Stalin’s arrest was condemned by representatives of the protest movement and organizations such as the Free Media Movement.

Sri Lanka’s 22 million people have endured months of lengthy blackouts, record inflation and shortages of food, fuel and petrol.

Ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa had been blamed by protesters for mismanaging the nation’s finances and public anger had simmered for months before the mass demonstrations that forced his ouster. 

IN DEFENSE OF COMMUNISM ©

 Also read: 


KKE expresses full solidarity with the workers-people's struggle in Sri Lanka