CIVICUS discusses the criminalisation of protest in Sri Lanka with climate activist Melani Gunathilaka, co-founder of Climate Action Now Sri Lanka and member of the Debt for Climate global movement. Melani works as a researcher with the Law and Society Trust and a research collaborator with Sri Lanka’s Institute of Political Economy.
Thousands of protesters from the 2022 Aragalaya (‘struggle’) movement continue to face legal persecution. The movement successfully forced the removal from power of the long-established Rajapaksa family following Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence, but around 4,000 protesters remain charged under nine different laws three years later. The judicial process has been systematically delayed, with many protesters suffering human rights violations during arrests and facing significant ongoing hardships, including travel restrictions and employment difficulties. Despite the new government’s campaign promises to ensure justice for Aragalaya cases, civil society’s calls for presidential pardons have yet to receive a favourable response.
