Gota seeks Supreme Court protection

Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has sought protection from arrest by the Supreme Court, citing anti-terrorism laws, in connection to the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that claimed nearly 270 lives. This request follows the dismissal of his writ petition by the Court of Appeal on October 1, without providing a hearing. The petition was aimed at preventing the police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from arresting Rajapaksa.

In June, the Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court had placed an overseas travel ban on the 77-year-old ex-president, which many interpreted as a possible lead-up to his arrest regarding the investigation. After serving as president from 2019 until his resignation amidst large-scale anti-government protests in mid-2022, Rajapaksa then approached the Court of Appeal for arrest protection.

His legal team argued that there were no reasonable grounds to impose the travel ban connected to the Easter Sunday probe. However, the state contended that it could not guarantee Rajapaksa's safety from arrest. In September, a Sri Lankan court convicted 15 individuals for their role in the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide attacks and sentenced them to over 200 years in prison.

The bombings, orchestrated by nine suicide bombers from the local Islamist group National Thawheed Jamaat, affiliated with ISIS, targeted three Catholic churches and three luxury hotels on April 21, 2019, resulting in 270 deaths, including 11 Indians, and over 500 injuries. In July, former Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera and former Defence Ministry head Hemasiri Fernando were sentenced to death for criminal dereliction of duty, as they failed to act on prior intelligence that could have prevented the attacks.

Rajapaksa's wife, Shiranthi Rajapaksa, was arrested on Wednesday in a corruption case for allegedly misusing public funds, while his nephew Namal Rajapaksa has been in remand since early September in a separate corruption case.