Parents of student protesters meet President:

Say their children were forced into buses

Dinesh De Alwis

Several parents of the University students who are remanded after forcibly entering the Higher Education Ministry premises had a discussion with President Mahinda Rajapaksa last evening, Higher Education Minister S B Dissanayake told the Daily News.

“Parents asked to release the students but we can’t do that. It is a legal matter. We have to follow the rules and regulations. The President asked them to write a letter apologizing for their conduct and submit it to the court via the Police,” said the Minister.

A majority of the students who participated in the protest on Thursday are first year students and they were forcibly loaded into buses, said the Minister.

Meanwhile, Nil Balakaya has requested the President to release all university students who are under police custody on sympathetic grounds.