Gotabaya Rajapaksa summoned in human rights violation case

Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Pic/PTI

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court on Wednesday directed authorities to issue summons to ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to appear in court over disappearances of two activists in 2011 as he is now stripped of constitutional immunity.

Rajapaksa, 73, will now be required to give evidence in the case filed on the disappearance of two rights activists Lalith Weeraraj and Kugan Murugananthan in Jaffna. The disappearances took place 12 years ago soon after the end of the country's long civil war when Rajapaksa was a powerful official at the Defence Ministry under the presidency of his elder brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

At the time, Gotabaya was accused of overseeing abduction squads that whisked away rebel suspects, critical journalists, activists, many never seen again. He has denied wrongdoing.

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