The deposed Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is facing calls for his arrest after
returning home from self-imposed exile under the protection of the government that took charge when he fled.
Rajapaksa fled the island country under military escort in July when a huge crowd stormed his official residence after months of angry demonstrations against his government.
The 73-year-old announced his resignation from Singapore and spent weeks under virtual house arrest at a Bangkok hotel lobbying his successor to allow his return.
Leaders of the protest campaign that toppled his government said Rajapaksa, who lost his presidential immunity after leaving office, should now be brought to justice.
“Gotabaya returned because no country is willing to accept him, he has no place to hide,” Joseph Stalin, the leader of a teachers’ trade union that helped mobilise demonstrators, told AFP.
“He should be arrested immediately for causing such misery for the 22 million people of
Sri Lanka. He should be prosecuted for his crimes.”
