 Photograph: Hiru News |
Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived back on the island on Monday, following a series of protests against his presence in Malaysia last week.
Touching down in Colombo Mr Rajapaksa said he was “prepared to face this kind of threats as I finished the decades old terrorist campaign in this country”. Hundreds of Sinhalese supporters gathered outside Colombo’s international airport, waving Sri Lankan flags and carrying placards of Mr Rajapaksa’s face, as he touched down on Monday.
During his visit, he faced several days of protests by Tamils in Malaysia and politicians from across the political spectrum, who demanded he be arrested for the crime of genocide.
“His hands are still fresh with the blood of innocent, murdered Sri Lankans and yet he is still walking free among the international community, without a thread of conscience or guilt,” said MP for Batu Kawan and DAP Wanita publicity secretary Kasthuri Patto.
“As both Malaysia and Sri Lanka have not signed and ratified the Rome Statute to bring any country to the International Criminal Court, how else can Sri Lanka be made accountable for its numerous war crimes?”
“How can Malaysia, as a nation, as a people and as a government, hold a nation or a government accountable on war crimes, genocide and ethnic cleansing?”
See the parliamentarian’s full opinion piece on Rajapaksa’s visit here.
Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia was also assaulted by protestors during Mr Rajapaksa’s visit. Five people have been arrested over the assault, as CCTV footage of the incident emerged. A number of protestors can be seen chasing the High Commissioner before assaulting him for approximately 20 seconds. Police officials arrived and ushered the protestors away, as the High Commissioner walked away from the scene.
“This is not good for the country, it was an attack against the government,” said Mr Rajapaksa on the assault.
Anti-Rajapaksa Protests in Kuala Lumpur Coordinator Satees Muniandy said in a statement that his organisation “have made it clear from the first day that we reject any form of violence in our protests and condemn all these incidents”.
“Although the ugly incidents are something that we strongly condemn, we still feel the Malaysian Government and the authorities are somehow to be held responsible for the unwanted incidents... All these could have been avoided if the Malaysian Government and police had listened to the united voice of the Malaysian Indians in the matter,” he said.
