Lawyers condemn...

Mr. Weliamuna also said they believed the latest notice issued on Fernando and Fr. Praveen setting certain restrictions on them, had been done upon providing misleading information to the Courts.

“It is imperative that the government recognises the right to gather, disseminate and exchange information on violations of human rights, for human rights defenders,” he added.

Lawyers for Democracy representative and attorney Chandrapala Kumarage who also spoke at the media briefing said he believed the arrests of human rights defenders were being carried out to intimidate the masses.

“Although the Emergency Laws were lifted in 2011, the country is at risk of those draconian laws being re-implemented as part of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) that would be detrimental to democracy and lead the country towards a powerful dictatorship,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Chandraguptha Thenuwara representing the academic community in his capacity as the President of the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) said, “The government has exploited its power to silence those who speak on behalf of the rights of other citizens and yet, managed to secure their freedom to lie to the rest of the world. The false information that has been disseminated globally through the External Affairs Ministry website has imposed doubts of the earlier statements that have been made by the Ministry,” he said.