The Lawyers for Democracy (LFD) an organisation that comprises legal practitioners throughout the country today said that the Government and its agents had disregarded the people’s fundamental right to conduct peaceful protests in Sri Lanka after it had tried to prevent aprotest rally organised by media groups this week and urged it to respect its constitutional obligations and commitment to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

A number of media groups held a protest near the Fort Railway Station in Colombo under the theme ‘Black January’ to highlight the challenging conditions faced by the media in Sri Lanka and to mark the death and disappearances of journalists in the month of January.

“The Constitution of Sri Lanka guarantees the freedom of peaceful assembly and all public organs of the state including the police and judiciary are expected to respect, secure and advance the fundamental rights guaranteed to its citizens,” LfD Convener Lal Wijenayake said.(Olindhi Jayasundere)