Sri Lanka: Mahinda Rajapaksa, brother Basil barred by Supreme court from leaving country

On July 15, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court issued an order prohibiting former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa from going abroad. The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka issued an interim injunction barring former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Minister Basil Rajapaksa from leaving the country without the court's approval until July 28, according to Daily Mirror.

Transparency International Sri Lanka, an anti-corruption organisation, tweeted that three additional former officials, including two former central bank governors, are also barred from leaving the country until July 28. The petition was heard by a five-judge panel of the Lankan Supreme Court, which included Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, Justice Buwaneka Aluwihare, Justice Priyantha Jayawardena, Justice Vijith Malalgoda, and Justice LTB Dehideniya, according to the Daily Mirror.

A case was filed in the Supreme Court when Basil Rajapaksa, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's younger brother, was turned back at the Colombo airport as he attempted to leave the country through the VIP terminal earlier on July 12. A day before Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives and appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as acting president, Basil, 71, attempted to leave the bankrupt island nation.

This exacerbated the political crisis and set off a new round of protests in the nation that is currently experiencing the worst financial crisis in decades. The shortage of petrol, food, and other needs prompted Basil to step down as finance minister in early April. He also left his position in parliament in June. Basil is widely blamed for the nation's biggest economic disaster, which has caused untold suffering for the populace.

Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as SL PM on May 9

The patriarch of the Rajapaksa family, Mahinda Rajapaksa, resigned from his position as prime minister on May 9 hours after members of his party attacked protestors opposed to the government outside Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office. A Sri Lankan court had earlier in May prohibited Mahinda, 76, from leaving the country due to ongoing investigations into the fatal attack on anti-government protestors in Colombo.

Following his departure from the position, the former PM was being sheltered at the nation's Trincomalee naval facility. Days after Mahinda Rajapaksa's resignation, Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka's new prime minister by the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Image: AP