Price break have deployed tear gasoline and water cannons in opposition to lots of of students protesting in the capital, demanding the release of individuals arrested throughout anti-government demonstrations last year. The protesters argue that the continued imprisonment of quite a few college students and activists constitutes political persecution.
In 2021, Sri Lanka skilled widespread, months-long protests triggered by the nation’s most severe financial crisis thus far. These mass demonstrations in the South Asian island nation, with a inhabitants of twenty-two million, ultimately led to the resignation and short-term departure of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Al Jazeera correspondent Minelle Fernandez, reporting from the outskirts of Colombo, described the scene as authorities fired “volleys of tear fuel canisters and water cannons” on the college students. She commented that the government’s response was “going way over the top” in an effort to suppress the protests.
“University college students have mentioned that this sort of repression by the federal government just isn’t going to cease them and silence them,” Fernandez reported. “They are saying the government’s campaign is to repress folks and silence their voices, to cease the university movement which was involved within the anti-government movement we noticed last 12 months and led to a change within the authorities.”
During her stay broadcast, each Fernandez and the Al Jazeera cameraperson were struck by a water cannon..