Protest camps in Sri Lanka cleared after raid

Protesters in Sri Lanka who toppled the previous government announced on Wednesday they were dismantling their main demonstration site near the President’s office after a crackdown on their leaders.

The group, led by university students and left-wing parties, said they were clearing their tents along the Galle Face seafront in the capital.

A spokesman said they had also withdrawn four court cases against a police order to clear the area that claimed their tents were a hindrance to nearby hotels.

Activists were seen dismantling their tents and other structures they had erected in support of their fight against the government.

The demonstrations began on April 9 as a protest against shortages of essential necessities such as fuel, food and medicine amid Sri Lanka’s worst-ever economic crisis.

They culminated when tens of thousands poured into Colombo and overran Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidential palace on July 9, forcing him to flee and eventually resign.

Days after Rajapaksa fled to Singapore and announced his resignation, troops evicted protesters who occupied the palace and the prime minister’s home and office.

The security forces were accused of using excessive force to evict the protesters, injuring more than 80 people and requiring hospitalization.

Since then, dozens of activists have been arrested on charges of damaging state property.

A senior union leader, Joseph Stalin, was released on bail on Monday after his arrest last week faced international criticism on charges of causing $90 in damage.

Rajapaksa’s successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has distinguished between “protesters” and “rioters” and promised crackdown on “all troublemakers”.

Shortly after protesters overran the palace, there were social media posts of them frolicking in the pool and hopping on four-poster beds around the sprawling grounds.

But the protesters also turned over to authorities around 17.5 million rupees ($46,000) in cash found in one of the rooms.