• The blame should go to the Health DG not to the police over the arrests
• Arrests not a political decision

By Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera

While refuting claims that police were suppressing protests, Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara said yesterday protesting people were arrested following health guidelines issued by the Director-General of Health Services and the blame should go to the Health DG, not to the police.

He told parliament that the arrests were made only based on the health requirements and that it was not a political decision. He said the Health DG was issuing quarantine rules and regulations from time to time and pointed out that new health guidelines were issued a few days ago, banning gatherings of people such as protests and meetings until further notice. The Minister said this responding to an allegation made by National Peoples’ Power MP Harini Amarasuriya, who said that the police were arresting protesting people and suppressing the reasonable protests. “The police are only carrying out the directives made by the Health Services DG to the Police Chief. If police are arresting the protesting people, the blame should go to the Health DG, not to the police,” he said.