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Sri Lanka’s ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa Returning home after seven weeks of exile He could face legal action over the enforced disappearance of activists after he was stripped of his constitutional immunity after protests over financial hardships, a lawyer said Saturday.
Rajapaksa flew from Thailand to Colombo around midnight on Friday and was escorted by military guards to his new home in the capital.
He has no pending court cases because he is protected by constitutional immunity as president. A corruption case against him during his time as a top defence official was withdrawn soon after he was elected in 2019.
However, lawyer Nuwan Bopage, representing the victims’ families, said Rajapaksa was due to be summoned to the Supreme Court next week, and his immunity was challenged in the case of the enforced disappearance of two young political activists. Rajapaksa fled the country in July when he was about to be subpoenaed, he said.
The disappearance occurred 12 years ago, shortly after the end of the country’s long civil war, when Rajapaksa was a powerful official in the Ministry of Defense, with his older brother as president.
At the time, Rajapaksa was accused of overseeing kidnapping squads that kidnapped rebel suspects, criticized journalists and activists, many of whom never showed up again. He has previously denied any wrongdoing.
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