Sri Lanka’s former president expected to fly to Thailand

 

Sri Lanka’s ousted president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, is expected to arrive in Thailand on Thursday, seeking temporary shelter in a second Southeast Asian country after fleeing his island nation last month amid mass protests, two sources said. 

Rajapaksa fled to Singapore on July 14, via the Maldives, following unprecedented unrest triggered by Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in seven decades and days after thousands of protesters stormed the president’s official residence and office. Rajapaksa has not made any public appearances or comments since leaving Sri Lanka, and Singapore’s government said this month that the city-state had not accorded him any privileges or immunity. 

A member of the influential Rajapaksa family, the 73-year-old served in the Sri Lankan military and later as defence secretary. During his time as defence secretary government forces finally defeated Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009 to end the Sri Lankan civil war. 

Rajapaksa’s successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has previously indicated that the former president should refrain from returning to Sri Lanka in the near future. If Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka, he might not be protected under law if any charges were filed against him, legal experts have said.