Warrant issued for Wimal Weerawansa, appears in court shortly after

Former MP Wimal Weerawansa appeared before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court today (September 21), shortly after a warrant was issued for his arrest over his failure to appear when a 2016 protest case was called.

The case against Weerawansa and five others relates to allegations of causing public inconvenience by blocking roads during a protest held outside the United Nations office in Colombo.

The further hearing of evidence was taken up before Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama today.

Suspects Jayantha Samaraweera, Weerakumara Dissanayake, Piyasiri Wijenayake, Roger Seneviratne and Mohammed Muzammil appeared before the court, while Weerawansa was absent when the case was initially called.

As prosecution witnesses also failed to appear, the Chief Magistrate fixed the case for further hearing on October 19, 2026, and issued notices on the witnesses.

The Magistrate also issued a warrant for Weerawansa’s arrest and ordered that he be produced before the court.

However, Weerawansa appeared before the court a short while later.

Appearing on behalf of Weerawansa, Attorney-at-Law Manjula Pathiraja informed the court that his client had been unable to appear on time due to a mechanical fault in his vehicle. He therefore requested that the warrant be recalled.

After considering the submissions, the Magistrate instructed the defence to make the request to recall the warrant tomorrow (September 22).

The case relates to a protest held on February 6, 2016, against the visit to Sri Lanka by then United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

The protest was held in front of the UN office in Colombo and allegedly blocked roads in the area, including around Thummulla Junction.

The Cinnamon Gardens Police filed the case over alleged offences punishable under the Thoroughfares Ordinance and the Police Ordinance.