Sri Lanka's new President Ranil Wickremesinghe told diplomats this week that non-violent protests against his government will be allowed to continue, including in the commercial capital Colombo, his office said in a statement on Sunday.
In a pre-dawn raid on Friday, hundreds of security personnel dismantled part of an anti-government protest camp outside the presidential secretariat, raising fears of a wider crackdown by Wickremesinghe who was sworn in a day earlier.
