Lagatar24 Desk
Colombo, May 12: A Sri Lankan court on Thursday banned former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, his politician son Namal, and 15 of their associates from leaving the country due to acts of violence against anti-government protesters.
The magistrate in Colombo’s capital has also urged police to look into mob attacks on peaceful protestors on Monday, which resulted in retaliatory violence that took nine lives and left widespread devastation.
A court spokesman told AFP that a petition to the court had also requested an arrest warrant for Rajapaksa and his accomplices.
According to the officials, the magistrate turned it down because police anyway have powers to detain any suspect. According to victims of Monday’s violence, Rajapaksa and his top aides bussed 3,000 of their fans into the capital and incited them to attack nonviolent protestors.
Anti-government demonstrators were beaten with sticks and clubs by a loyalist crowd that surged out of his home. At least 225 individuals were hospitalised as a result of the incident, including Buddhist monks and Catholic priests.
Retaliation quickly swept across the country, with scores of Rajapaksa supporters’ homes set burned. After resigning, the premier was forced to flee his home by heavily armed forces.
According to the reports, the 76-year-old former leader is currently imprisoned at a naval base in the island nation’s east.
