Lawyers who filed cases against the Sri Lankan government and a controversial Buddhist monk were threatened by armed masked men and warned that they would be killed if they continue their legal action.
Masked men had rushed into the offices of lawyer Namal Rajapakshe in Colombo this week, one of whom had been armed. The men warned that Rajapakshe and fellow lawyer Manjula Pathiraja would be killed if they pressed forward with “unnecessary cases”.
The men went on to explicitly mention a case that was filed against a Buddhist monk by the lawyers, before they left on an unidentified motorcycle.
The incident was revealed by the Lawyers Collective, who has called for the protection of the two lawyers, and for fellow lawyer Lakshan Dias, all of whom have been threatened by unidentified persons. The lawyers have appeared in a series of cases challenging the Sri Lankan government, as well as the Defence authorities.
The Lawyers Collective statement urged the Inspector General of Police “to take immediate steps to ensure the protection of all three of them and to take all possible steps to hold accountable, all those responsible for these threats and intimidation.”