Sri Lanka General Secretary of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union (CTU), Joseph Stalin, was temporarily released from custody on bail, the Ada Derana broadcaster reported on Monday after he was arrested on May 28 for leading a street protest at Bank of Ceylon Mawatha.

The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court temporarily freed Stalin on bail after demonstrations have been staged in Colombo for his release from custody, the broadcaster reported.    

After former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe came to power as the President, Stalin became the most senior activist to be arrested.  

The recent protest against former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's government, accused of pursuing a policy that triggered the worst economic crisis in Sri Lanka's history, covered the entire center of Colombo and was attended by the representatives of the non-systemic opposition along with parliament opposition members, leaders of several parties and trade unions. Wickremesinghe himself supported the protest too, with members of his party taking part in it.    

The wave of arrests against activists in street protests in Colombo started after Wickremesinghe came to power as interim president following the resignation of president Rajapaksa, who fled to the Maldives.

Wickremesinghe supported the protest movement until the protesters stormed Rajapaksa's home and office. They also tried to seize the Sri Lankan parliament until Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency allowing the military to arrest and detain people, search private property, and quell protests.

Many Sri Lankan politicians are urging the Wickremesinghe government to stop arresting activists in order to avoid further divisions in the society and hamper the crisis-solving process.

Sri Lanka has become the first country to announce default on its foreign debt in the 21st century as its government declared bankruptcy.

The country grapples with record inflation rates, medicine, fuel, and food shortages which came as a result of multiple factors, such as the Covid-19 pandemic that hit the country's lifeline, the tourism industry, and energy inflation as a result of the war in Ukraine.