(COLOMBO) – Sri Lanka’s former President Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on Saturday urged the Government to withdraw the Online Safety and the Anti-Terrorism Acts while at the same time she urged the youth of the country to protest peacefully against these new laws.
She claimed that the Bill were dangerous Acts which could be used by the Government at any time to violate the people’s fundamental rights and that the youth and the people must act democratically against these laws.
“The Online Safety Act and the Anti-Terrorism Bill are very dangerous. If the Government wants, these Acts have provisions to easily violate fundamental rights of the people at any time. We have serious fear as to how the Government would use these pieces of legislature when we consider how it has acted on previous occasions.
People have a right to use the internet and social media as they want. If they are used to spread false news and create political instability, then the prevailing laws in the country are sufficient to act against such moves. There is no need of special laws,” she said.
Kumaratunge said there is an election year ahead in Sri Lanka and that it was doubtful as to how these Acts would be used.
“We have a bad experience where some governments have acted against the law to rig elections. Thousands of people were arrested and jailed on false allegations to win elections. We must be on high alert as to how these Acts will be used in this election year. We call upon the youth to protest against these Acts democratically and urge the Government to withdraw the two Acts,” she said.
She said the Government was making a commendable effort to restore the economy on the advice of the IMF and added that these Acts will hinder the international support in this endeavour.
