2ND LEAD (Adds details)

Protest in Colombo over indiscriminate arrests of Tamils

[TamilNet, Friday, 06 January 2006, 12:40 GMT]
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated Friday afternoon 3 p.m.at the Five Lamp junction in Colombo city against indiscriminate arrests and harassment of Tamil people in Colombo under the Emergency Regulations. Several organizations and Sinhala and Tamil political party leaders participated in this jointly organized event, sources said.

Protesters carried placards and shouted the slogan "stop the police arrestments as well as remove the emergency law." After an hour of protest the political party leaders addressed the gathering.

All Tamil business establishments along Chetty Street, Kathiresan Street, Pettah and Five Lamp junction were closed down during the demonstration There was traffic congestion in the area for about two hours, sources said.

Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians, N.Raviraj and Suresh Premachandran, Western Province People's Front Leader Mano Ganesan, New Leftist Movement leader Vikramabhu Karunarathna, NLF senior leader Mr.V.Thirunavukkarasu, Leader of the Democratic Left Front Mr.Vasudeva Nanayakara, Secretary of the New Democratic Front Mr.E.Thambiah, and several leading political leaders also participated in the demonstration.

Notable absentees to the demonstrations are the members of Colombo peace movements and Peace NGOs, attendees to the event said.