Deposed Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has faced calls for his arrest after returning to the country from exile in Thailand, seven weeks after he fled demonstrations that blamed him for the economic downturn.
Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka last July under army protection after a mob stormed his official residence after months of angry protests against his government.
He sought asylum first in the Maldives and then in Singapore, where he announced his resignation. After 28 days, his visa expired without the possibility of renewal, so he moved to Thailand, where the local authorities asked him to stay in a hotel for security reasons, and he was practically detained.
“Gotabaya has returned because no country wants to accept him, he has nowhere to hide,” Joseph Stalin, head of the Sri Lankan teachers union who helped mobilize the protesters, told AFP.
“He should be arrested immediately for causing such suffering to 22 million Sri Lankans. He must stand trial for his crimes,” he added.
The Rajapaksa government has faced accusations of mismanagement of Sri Lanka’s economy, which has entered an unprecedented recession.
Sri Lanka is in an economic crisis, with acute shortages of food, fuel and medical supplies due to a lack of foreign exchange to finance imports. After retiring in the middle of his five-year term, Rajapaksa lost ex officio immunity, so a trial is possible.
Source: AFP.