A Sri Lankan court today banned demonstrations in Tamil-dominated Northern Province capital Jaffna amid planned protests demanding the release of 130 people who have been take into custody for rioting over arrests of rape and murder suspects.
"The Jaffna magistrate has issued an order preventing organising demonstrations in Jaffna," police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said.
The order was obtained following information that protests calling for the release of 130 people arrested on Wednesday were to happen in Jaffna today, Gunasekera said.
Jaffna residents rioted blaming police inaction on the slowness of prosecution against alleged rapists arrested in Jaffna.
An 18-year-old student was gangraped and murdered in Jaffna's Punguduthivu area on May 14. Five persons were arrested in this connection.
They stoned the court premises and the police on duty causing injuries to policemen. The riot forces both the police chief N K Ilangakoon and the Chief Justice K Sripawan to visit Jaffna and assess the security situation.
Police chief ordered the immediate transfer of at least five senior police officers serving in Jaffna when the riot broke out.
The Jaffna lawyers stayed away from work yesterday in protest of the riot as the court premises had suffered damage.
