Ashan Kottewatte arrest sparks rights row as Sajith Premadasa visits Dehiwala Police and vows SJB legal action over alleged oppression.
Ashan Kottewatte arrest has sparked strong criticism from Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, who said the detention of the youth activist from the Dehiwala electorate violated his fundamental rights.
Premadasa said the Constitution, as the supreme law of the country, guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of information, and freedom of expression as basic human rights. He stressed that Kottewatte had exposed alleged corruption linked to the Clean Sri Lanka program and the Divisional Secretariat system, including appointments allegedly made by the government to every Divisional Secretariat area as officers of the Clean Sri Lanka Project.
According to Premadasa, those revelations had helped uphold the right to information of 2.2 million people.
The Opposition Leader made these remarks when he arrived at the Dehiwala Police Station to meet Ashan Kottewatte, who had been arrested.
Premadasa further claimed that every Divisional Secretariat and District Secretariat in the country is now being subjected to what he described as “JVPization.” He said Kottewatte had become a political victim for revealing these matters to the public.
Explaining the incident, Premadasa said Kottewatte had gone to a Municipal Council officer only at the request of a Municipal Council member. He said Kottewatte had printed information sent by that member to the officer through WhatsApp and then returned it to the same member.
Premadasa argued that this could not be treated as theft, but should instead be seen as an exercise of democratic rights.
The Opposition Leader added that the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, as a political party, will take the strongest possible legal action over what he called the violation of Mr. Ashan Kottewatte’s fundamental and democratic rights.
He also said that keeping Kottewatte detained at a police station over such a minor matter was an undemocratic and indecent act. Premadasa urged the government to stop such oppression and ensure that the democratic rights of the people are protected.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa further stated that all available democratic processes would be pursued both inside and outside Parliament regarding this incident. He noted that the Samagi Jana Balawegaya had opposed similar incidents in the past and would continue to do so.
