Sri Lankans rally against crackdown on protesters

By ERANGA JAYAWARDENA
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Hundreds of Sri Lankans have rallied against a government crackdown and the use of emergency laws against peaceful protesters demanding answers to the country’s worst economic crisis. Protesters led by religious and trade union leaders marched to the Independence Square in Colombo and made several demands including the withdrawal of emergency laws, an end to the arrests of protesters, the immediate dissolution of Parliament and relief for those burdened by the hardship. Protesters accuse ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s family of plunging the country into the crisis through mismanagement and corruption. But they’re also unhappy with his successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has authorized police and the military to use emergency laws to arrest protest leaders.