I'm going to be arrested on Monday.. - Wimal

The Sri Lanka Police is taking legal action against former Member of Parliament Wimal Weerawansa and a group of his supporters regarding the tense situation that arose near the Battaramulla War Heroes' Monument on May 18. Mr. Weerawansa has been informed to appear before the Talangama Police next Monday to give a statement regarding this incident, and he revealed at a press conference and a television discussion held in Colombo on May 23 that there is a possibility of him and his group being arrested there.

This controversial incident was reported when the final rehearsal for the State Ceremony of Victory Day, scheduled to be held on May 19 under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, was taking place at the War Heroes' Monument premises. According to the police, a group of about 35 people led by Mr. Weerawansa attempted to forcibly enter a restricted area, obstructing the rehearsal activities and officers on duty. A tense situation arose between the police and the group, and video footage showing Mr. Weerawansa attempting to overcome police barricades by rolling on the ground while trying to enter the monument premises to pay tribute to the war heroes also circulated on social media.

The former MP, expressing strong displeasure over the police preventing his group, stated that the Ministry of Defense had been informed in advance about this. Questioning whether permission should be sought to go to a public place open to the public to pay tribute to the heroic war heroes based on citizens' rights, he stated in a press release that this has become an era where even placing a wreath for war heroes requires permission. He further emphasized that no one can stop honoring the heroes who saved the country, no matter how many obstacles arise.

The nature of law enforcement under the current government has also come under severe criticism from Mr. Weerawansa. He states that although the President said law is equal for all, it has remained only in words, and he accuses that the law has become inactive against the group that occupied the Malwane Mansion belonging to the Ministry of Justice. Furthermore, he pointed out in the television discussion that if he or his group had truly obstructed police duty near the War Heroes' Monument, the police had the ability to arrest them at that very moment.

Mr. Wimal Weerawansa, the founder of the National Freedom Front and a former propaganda secretary of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, is a figure who has built a strong Sinhala nationalist image in the political arena, known as the 'propaganda cannon' among both supporters and critics. On May 18, the same day the incident near the War Heroes' Monument was reported, a case filed by the Cinnamon Gardens Police against him and five others related to a protest held in front of the United Nations Office in Colombo in 2016 was also taken up for hearing. Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama ordered on that day to postpone the further hearing of evidence in that case, which accuses them of obstructing roads and causing public nuisance against the visit of former Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, until July 13. Due to this chain of events, his actions have once again drawn significant public attention.