Sri Lanka’s government imposed a weekend curfew on Saturday, even as hundreds of lawyers urged President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to revoke a state of emergency introduced following unrest over fuel and other shortages in a deep economic crisis.

The government’s information department said a countrywide curfew would run from 6pm (1230 GMT) on Saturday to 6am (0030 GMT) on Monday.

Rajapaksa introduced a state of emergency on Friday, raising fears of a crackdown on protests. Emergency powers in the past have allowed the military to arrest and detain suspects.