Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa moved the Supreme Court on Friday seeking protection from arrest under anti-terrorism laws in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, which killed nearly 270 people.
The appeal follows the Court of Appeal’s dismissal of his writ petition on 1 October without a hearing. The petition had asked the court to stop the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) from arresting him.
In June, the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court imposed an overseas travel ban on Rajapaksa, who is 77. His lawyers had argued there were no reasonable grounds for the ban. The state told the Court of Appeal it could give no undertaking that he would not be arrested.
No date has been reported for the Supreme Court to take up the appeal.
