Taking citizens to courts for having performed their citizenry duties by staging a protest is a violation of their fundamental rights, alleged lawyer-politician M.A. Sumanthiran.
He was making submissions at Eravur circuit magistrate’s court on 17 November in a case against 30 Tamils for having protested against the president during his visit to the east last month.
Sumanthiran, a president’s counsel, also claimed the police have misled the courts into using its powers in an improper manner.
For their part, police sought a date to produce witnesses to prove the accusations against the group.
Accordingly, next hearing of the case has been fixed for 24 January.
