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President appoints judge-led commission on recent violence

02 Jun 2022

  • Mandated to probe incidents from 31 March-15 May
  • SC Judge Buwaneka Aluwihare PC to chair CoI
  • Members include former SDIG and Addl. Chief Assessor
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to investigate and report on all types of property damage and loss of life, including arson, robbery, and murder, which took place in several parts of the country between 31 March and 15 May, according to the President’s Media Division. The CoI is Chaired by Supreme Court (SC) Judge Justice Buwaneka P. Aluwihare PC, and its other members are former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) S.M. Wickramasinghe and Additional Chief Assessor N.A.S. Wasantha Kumara. Additional Secretary to the President Buwaneka Herath has been appointed as the CoI’s Secretary. Letters of appointment to the members of the CoI were handed over by President Rajapaksa at the President's house in Colombo Fort, yesterday (1). Protests began across the country a few months ago over the rising cost of living, fertiliser shortages, and essential commodity shortages, which were caused by the prevailing economic crisis. During such protests, there have been several reports of the homes and offices of Ministers, MPs, Local Government politicians, and other Government institutions being surrounded by protestors. The culmination of such incidents was the series of incidents which took place following the recent attack on peaceful protestors at the Galle Face Green and in front of the Temple Trees in Kollupitiya by a group of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) supporters. Following the said group of SLPP supporters, after a meeting with then-Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, attacking the protest sites at the Galle Face Green and in front of Temple Trees, tense situations erupted in several parts of the country on 9 May.  After the said attacks, the buses and vehicles by which the SLPP supporters had reached Colombo on that day were smashed and set on fire by the people. Several SLPP supporters were also attacked by the people in Colombo and more than 250 who were injured during the clashes had been admitted to the National Hospital in Colombo, including the SLPP supporters who carried out the attack on protestors, while at least six people had died during the incidents.


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