United States authorities rejected on Tuesday a visa application submitted by the President Sri LankaGotabaya Rajapaksa, who recently announced his resignation as the Asian nation faces an unprecedented crisis that has led to major protests.
The news, published by the Indian newspaper The Hindu and published by the Ceylonese Daily Mirror, came in the context of speculation that the president, who had dual Ceylonese and American citizenship, may have fled. he resigned second in order to be eligible to run in the 2019 election.
According to a senior official consulted by the aforementioned Indian newspaper, Rajapaksa I would look for a “protection certificate for USA”after massive anti-government demonstrations in recent days on the island, although this request was denied by Washington.
Amid rumors of a possible attempt to flee the country, Sri Lankan immigration and border authorities deny that they prevented Rajapaksa from leaving the country, although they did not say whether the president did it or not.
The Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration Officers Association (SLIEOA) said officials have no legal basis to prevent Rajapaksa, who is still president of the country, from leaving the island.
In the same vein, the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) has also taken a stand against a series of information posted on social media indicating that Rajapaksa is currently at the private residence of Air Force Chief Marshal Sudarshana Patirana.
SLAF spokesman Dušan Wijesinghe said the reports were not true and that it was all part of a propaganda campaign to tarnish the image of the military body and its chief.
Sri Lanka: Protesters find nearly $50,000 in palace
Protesters who peacefully took over the Presidential House, the official residence of Sri Lanka’s president, handed over to police on Saturday 17.8 million Sri Lankan rupees (about $48,500) that were found inside the building.
The protesters delivered this amount of money to the Central Police Station in Colombo, according to the Sri Lankan news portal NewsFirst.
The money was transferred to the Fort District Police Station, the official residence of President Gotabai Rajapaksa, who announced on Saturday that he would step down as President of Sri Lanka next Wednesday. The courts will be informed of the details of the find on Monday.
(According to Europa Press and AFP)
Source: RPP
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