Sri Lankan top court extends overseas travel ban on Mahinda Rajapaksa till August 4

Colombo, August 1

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on Monday extended until August 4 the overseas travel ban on former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his younger brother and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, who are widely blamed for the current economic crisis in the island nation.

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya announced the Monday’s decision in a petition filed against the brothers of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by a group including former Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Chandra Jayaratne, former Sri Lanka swimming champion Julian Bolling, Jehan Kanagaratna and Transparency International Sri Lanka.

The direction was issued when a motion related to the petition requesting the court to issue an order for an investigation against the people responsible for the current economic crisis came up on Monday.