Posted on Jul 9, 2022
Sri Lankan demonstrators enter president's residence amid economic crisis protests
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https://www.npr.org/2022/07/09/ [login to see] /sri-lanka-protest-president-residence-economic-crisis
Sri Lankan protesters demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign forced their way into his official residence and nearby office on Saturday, local television reports said, as thousands of people demonstrated in the capital against the island nation's worst economic crisis in recent memory.
It was not clear if Rajapaksa was inside the residence in Colombo but footage shot on mobile phones showed a large number of people inside the well-fortified house and on the grounds outside.
A government spokesman, Mohana Samaranayake, said he had no information about whether Rajapaksa had left the residence.
Hundreds of protesters, some carrying national flags, also entered the president's office in another nearby building, television footage showed. Protesters blame Rajapaksa for the economic woes and had occupied the entrance to his office building for the past three months calling on him to step down.
Video posted on social media showed hundreds of protesters running into the president's residence, chanting "Gota go home," calling the president by his nickname. Outside the building, barricades were overturned.
Sri Lankan protesters demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign forced their way into his official residence and nearby office on Saturday, local television reports said, as thousands of people demonstrated in the capital against the island nation's worst economic crisis in recent memory.
It was not clear if Rajapaksa was inside the residence in Colombo but footage shot on mobile phones showed a large number of people inside the well-fortified house and on the grounds outside.
A government spokesman, Mohana Samaranayake, said he had no information about whether Rajapaksa had left the residence.
Hundreds of protesters, some carrying national flags, also entered the president's office in another nearby building, television footage showed. Protesters blame Rajapaksa for the economic woes and had occupied the entrance to his office building for the past three months calling on him to step down.
Video posted on social media showed hundreds of protesters running into the president's residence, chanting "Gota go home," calling the president by his nickname. Outside the building, barricades were overturned.
Sri Lankan demonstrators enter president's residence amid economic crisis protests
Posted from npr.org
Sri Lanka
Protest
Economics
Social Media
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Police had imposed a curfew in Colombo and several other main urban areas on Friday night but withdrew it Saturday morning amid objections by lawyers and opposition politicians who called it illegal.
U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung on Friday asked people to protest peacefully and called for the military and police “to grant peaceful protesters the space and security to do so.”
“Chaos & force will not fix the economy or bring the political stability that Sri Lankans need right now,” Chung said in a tweet."
..."Police had imposed a curfew in Colombo and several other main urban areas on Friday night but withdrew it Saturday morning amid objections by lawyers and opposition politicians who called it illegal.
U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung on Friday asked people to protest peacefully and called for the military and police “to grant peaceful protesters the space and security to do so.”
“Chaos & force will not fix the economy or bring the political stability that Sri Lankans need right now,” Chung said in a tweet."
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