ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament Thursday (19) morning that the military has not been given shoot-on-sight orders to quell violent protestors but police can act at their discretion under existing laws.
There is a lot of questions on the shoot on sight order that was supposed to have been given. No shoot on sight order was given. There is nothing in writing [..] because we didn’t want people to shoot. We wanted to prevent them from shooting.
“Some of the MPs’ houses got damaged and destroyed, but there were no orders to shoot on sight.
“Many agencies outside asking why […] Like under any normal circumstance, the police has to use their discretion if they feel they have to open fire, and there are procedures for that. But other than that, there was no special order given,” said Wickremesinghe.
Sri Lanka’s defence ministry said on May 10 that the military had been given orders to shoot people who attempt to destroy public property or cause personal harm. The ministry made this statement on the second day of mob violence that erupted around the country in retaliation to a government-backed attack on peaceful protestors the previous day. Several government members’ residences and offices were torched by angry mobs around the country. (Colombo/May19/2022)