Ousted Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned to Colombo from exile in Thailand on Friday after seven weeks on the run from a country rocked by protests that blamed him for an economic crisis.
Rajapaksa, 73, fled Sri Lanka in July and first sought refuge in the Maldives and Singapore, where he announced his resignation.
After his visa expired after 28 days without being renewed, he moved to Thailand and the local authorities asked him to stay in their hotel for security reasons and he was effectively detained.
A Sri Lankan defense ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Rajapaksa “has been staying like a prisoner in a Thai hotel and wants to return”.
“We have just formed a new security squad to protect him after his return, which includes elements of the army and police teams,” the official added.
He explained that Rajapaksa had a visa that allowed him to stay in Thailand for 90 days, but he chose to return with his wife, a bodyguard and another aide.
The Sri Lankan constitution provides for bodyguards, vehicles and residences for former presidents.
Human rights defenders welcomed his return and said they would try to arrest him “for the crimes he committed”.
“We will be able to bring him to court,” Tharindu Jayawardana, a spokesman for the Sri Lanka Young Journalists Association, told AFP.
He added: We had previously requested the Inspector General to reopen the closed criminal investigation and we listed 21 cases for him.
Rajapaksa, who was elected in 2019 on the promise of a “prosperity vision”, has gradually lost popularity as the country’s crisis has worsened.
Sri Lanka defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt in mid-April.
The International Monetary Fund on Thursday announced conditional aid to Sri Lanka, a rescue plan worth $2.9 billion over four years to fix its finances.
Source: Lebanon Debate
