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Liberal Youth Movement hails Supreme Court case on Emergency Regulations in 2022
Colombo, July 23 (Daily Mirror) - The Liberal Youth Movement welcomed the Supreme Court judgment upholding the petition it filed challenging the islandwide State of Emergency declared on July 17, 2022 by the then Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Issuing a statement, the Movement said, “We believe in standing firm for individual liberty, fundamental rights, and the rule of law—not in support of or opposition to any government, but in unwavering defense of the freedoms of the people. When those freedoms are under threat, we act.
In July 2022, during one of Sri Lanka’s most turbulent times, we filed a fundamental rights petition (SC FR No. 26/2022) challenging the islandwide State of Emergency declared on July 17, 2022 by the then Acting President. We argued that the regulations introduced to suppress dissent were unconstitutional and violated fundamental rights protected under Articles 11, 12(1), 13(1), 13(2), 13(5), and 14 (1) (a) (d) of the Constitution.
Today, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka delivered its judgment—upholding our petition. A majority of the three-judge bench, including Chief Justice Murdu Fernando and Justice Yasantha Kodagoda, ruled that the emergency regulations were arbitrary, invalid, and in clear violation of the Constitution. The court also ordered the government to pay legal costs to the petitioners.
This ruling sends a clear and historic message:
You are born with rights. You are born with liberty. These freedoms are not gifts from any government—they are yours by nature. And when they are violated, you have every right—and every reason—to stand up and reclaim them.
This case is not just a legal victory—it’s a moral victory for every Sri Lankan who believes in freedom, dignity, and justice. It proves that the law can protect you, that the Constitution matters, and that young people and civic movements can hold even the most powerful accountable.
We are proud to have set this example and to remind our fellow citizens that the path to justice lies not in silence, but in action grounded in principle.
We remain committed to defending individual rights, opposing oppression in all forms, and building a future where liberty, rule of law, and human dignity are never negotiable—not in favor of any government or in disfavor of any government, but in favor of the values we believe in.
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