Who Blocked the Roads for Ranil’s Hearing? Arrests Ordered Over Court Disruption

COLOMBO (News 1st); Colombo Fort Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura has issued a directive to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to immediately identify and arrest individuals and organizations responsible for mobilizing crowds that obstructed access to the court during a hearing involving former President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Additionally, the magistrate instructed the CID to apprehend individuals who recorded and shared videos on social media of incidents that occurred within the court premises on the night Wickremesinghe was presented before the court.

The directive falls under provisions of the Contempt of Court Act, and the Department of Criminal Investigations has been tasked with taking legal action accordingly.

Additional Solicitor General Dilip Peiris, presenting submissions before the court, stated that various individuals and groups had systematically organized the obstruction of main roads leading to the Fort Magistrate’s Court during hearings involving the former president.

He further revealed that videos of incidents within the court premises on the night of Wickremesinghe’s appearance had been circulated on social media, and called for immediate legal action against those responsible.

Peiris also informed the court that a video of the magistrate’s announcement regarding Wickremesinghe’s remand had been recorded and shared online by an unidentified individual present in court.

Moreover, he disclosed that photographs of the suspect seated on a courtroom bench had also been taken and disseminated on social media platforms.

Peiris expressed concern over the deteriorating decorum among legal professionals attending court, noting a lack of mutual respect.

He warned against allowing mob-style justice and emphasized that the sword in the hand of the goddess of justice exists to uphold the rule of law—not to be ignored. He urged the magistrate to ensure that this principle is upheld.

Taking these submissions into account, Magistrate Lankapura issued the relevant orders to the CID.