Mahinda Rajapaksa challenges security cut in Supreme Court
Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has filed a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition at the Supreme Court, challenging the government’s decision to reduce his security detail.
The petition names Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, the Cabinet of Ministers, and several others as respondents.
In his filing, the former President asserts that he continues to face terrorist threats due to his leadership in ending the decades-long conflict with the LTTE.
He alleges that his security detail has been reduced to 60 personnel, with no armed forces personnel assigned to his protection, leaving only police officers responsible for his security.
The petition emphasizes that the decision to reduce his security was made arbitrarily, without a proper security assessment, despite ongoing threats to his life.
Rajapaksa’s petition requests the Supreme Court to rule that his fundamental rights have been violated as a result of the reduction in his security detail.
Furthermore, he seeks a court order directing the respondents to conduct a comprehensive threat assessment and redeploy his full security detail.
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I admire and respect former President MR for the action he took in eliminating the Tamil terrorists. but I cannot imagine why 60 personnel are insufficient for his security.. How many were his full security detail, I wonder ???
I do not know the criteria behind curtailing down to 60 security personnel. I guess they are just police and not armed security guards. Former president also stated that there are no armed security guards!! I am sure in case of a terrorist attack these policemen will be sitting ducks. In my opinion, the security should be based upon security assessment conducted periodically. In case of a security breach MR, future presidents of SL will be reluctant to take prompt actions pertaining to matters concerning nations security!