Dozens of people were arrested in Sri Lanka following protests near the president's home demanding that he resign amid the country's worst economic crisis in memory, police said Friday.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office blamed "organized extremists" within the group of protesters for violence during Thursday night's demonstration, where police fired tear gas and a water cannon at thousands of protesters and arrested 54 people. Dozens of other people were also injured.
Sri Lanka has huge debt obligations and dwindling foreign reserves, and its struggle to pay for imports has caused the shortages. People wait in long lines for fuel, and power is cut for several hours daily because there's not enough fuel to operate generating plants and dry weather has sapped hydropower capacity.
Reporters asked the spokesman about police officers' alleged manhandling of journalists covering the protests, including the arrest of at least one of them. Rohana said police followed the rules for riot control and took action only after the protest turned violent more than four hours after it started.
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