SJB says Official Secrets Act does not prevent people from travelling on roads

• It’s a wrong interpretation of the Official Secrets Act of 1955 on the part of the government, states SJB MP Gayantha Karunatilaka

By Yohan Perera 

The Official Secrets Act of 1955 does not provide to prevent anyone from travelling along roads where important state buildings are located and thus declare these areas as high security zones, Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Gayantha Karunatilaka said yesterday.  

MP Karunatilaka told a press conference that this legislation only provides provisions to prevent information on important state institutions from leaking out for their security. “It’s a wrong interpretation of the Official Secrets Act of 1955 on the part of the government,” he said. 

“What has been done today is to prevent access to the roads and sub roads which lead to the Presidential Secretariat, the Janadipathi Mandiraya (President’s House, Prime Minister’s office and Temple  Trees. In other words, the public have been barred from entering into locations where the protest sites such as GotaGoGama and MyinaGoGama were in the recent past. However the Official Secrets Act of 1955 does not provide any provisions under which the public are called upon to get permission from either IGP or DIG in the respective areas to access the roads on which high security zones are located,” the MP said. 

“Declaration of high security zones will give rise to more aggressive protests in the near future,” he added.