Sri Lankan Parliament approves state of emergency

By KRISHAN FRANCIS
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s Parliament has approved a state of emergency declared by the president, who says it is needed to control food prices and prevent hoarding amid shortages of some staples. Opposition lawmakers say the emergency declaration isn’t needed because other laws can be used to maintain essential supplies, and the tough emergency rules can be misused to stifle critics. The emergency law enables authorities to detain people without warrants, seize property, enter and search any premises, suspend laws and issue orders that cannot be questioned in court. Officials who issue such orders are also immune from lawsuits. Sri Lanka has been under a state of emergency for much the last 50 years during two Marxist insurrections and a decades-long civil war.