Sri Lanka’s top court allows proceedings in begin against ousted leader Rajapaksa

Case filed by rights group Transparency International calls for accountability for island nation’s leadership

Sri Lanka’s top court has allowed proceedings against former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and the country’s former finance minister and two of its former central bank governors.

The case, filed by rights group Transparency International, calls for accountability for the island nation’s leadership for its worst financial crisis in more than seven decades, reported Reuters.

The group filed a public interest lawsuit on 17 June claiming that the former president, his brothers Mahinda and Basil and former central bank governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal and top finance ministry bureaucrat S R Attygalle were directly responsible for the economic crisis.

The petition argued that due to their failure to take timely action the country was unable to meet its international debt commitments and went bankrupt, reported Press Trust of India.

Sri Lanka has been reeling under the worst economic crisis since its independence that has created a shortage of necessities such as food, fuel and essential medicines.

The former president left the country after months of street protests demanding his resignation due to his poor handling of the country’s finances.

He returned from Thailand earlier this month, two months after leaving the country.

The development in the country’s top court comes a day after the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday renewed the mandate of a UN office to collect and preserve evidence of alleged wartime human rights crimes in Sri Lanka, despite opposition from the government and allies including China.

Sri Lanka has rejected the resolution with foreign minister Ali Sabry terming it as “rambling” and a “drain on resources”.

“Sri Lanka categorically rejects the resolution presented without our consent, despite our efforts to engage with the main sponsors,” Mr Sabry said.

(Additional reporting by agencies)