Sri Lanka's Former President Interrogated Over Money Found At His Office - Police

Sri Lanka's Former President Interrogated Over Money Found at His Office - Police

Sri Lankan police interrogated former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa regarding the large sum of money protesters had found at his residence during mass protests in July 2022, police spokesperson Nihal Talduwa said on Wednesday

NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2023) Sri Lankan police interrogated former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa regarding the large sum of money protesters had found at his residence during mass protests in July 2022, police spokesperson Nihal Talduwa said on Wednesday.

In July 2022, protesters captured the residence of Rajapaksa, who served as president at the time, and found over 17.8 million Sri Lankan rupees (almost $50,000) there. The money was eventually sent to the police.

"The three-hour statement was recorded at his (Rajapaksa's) private house on the instruction of the court," Talduwa told reporters, as quoted by Sri Lanka's Ada Derana news outlet.

He added that the police reported the transferred money to the court, which, in turn, ordered that Rajapaksa's statement about the discovery of the sum be recorded.

Rajapaksa and his family faced numerous allegations of wrongdoing between 2015 and 2019. After he became president in November 2019, one such case, an alleged misuse of public funds to erect a monument to his parents, was dismissed on the basis of presidential immunity. Sri Lankan lawyers are now saying that the case can be reopened, since he no longer enjoys presidential immunity.

Mass street protests against Rajapaksa's government began in Colombo, Sri Lanka's executive, judicial and commercial capital, in late April 2022. The protesters accused the government of implementing an economic policy that led to the worst economic crisis in the country's history. Amid the protests, and following ministers' resignations, Rajapaksa resigned himself on July 14.