Eran says Govt. will not hesitate to use full force of law to deal with hate speech

• Condemns despicable acts of harming people and destroying property
• Stresses Govt. will deal with every source from which hate speech emanates, even on social media
• Calls on all peace-loving citizens to support Govt. in restoring civility, sense of reasonableness

 By Charumini de Silva

State Finance Minister Eran Wickramaratne yesterday said the Government would not hesitate to use the full force of the law in dealing with anybody who tried to harm people or destroy property, while calling on all peace-loving citizens of Sri Lanka to support the Government in restoring civility and a sense of reasonableness.

“We have freedom of speech in this country which goes without boundaries; the freedom of speech the people of this country enjoy is not even enjoyed by European countries. For too long we have seen hate speech, we have seen speech that encourages violence and this must stop. Our Government will not hesitate to use emergency powers not just to curb such a situation but to prevent any such incidents happening anywhere in our country,” he said while speaking at the Microfinance Forum in Colombo.

He said the Government would deal with every source from which this kind of hate speech emanates and even on social media.

Wickramaratne pointed out that these kinds of situations had arisen from time to time in almost all countries within South Asia. “Those who can’t resolve issues in a civilised society, in a civilised manner, generally turn things into this kind of situation to solve their problems. They generally use ethnicity and religion to resolve issues. We condemn the despicable acts of harming people and destroying properties,” he stressed.

Wickramaratne called on all peace-loving citizens to support the Government in restoring civility and a sense of reasonableness to create a society in which every Sri Lankan felt equal before the law.