Sri Lanka’s top court holds ex-president, former premier responsible for last year’s economic crisis

ANKARA

Sri Lanka’s top court on Tuesday declared the country’s former president, and ex-prime minister responsible for mishandling the nation’s worst financial crisis last year.

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, held several respondents, including former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his brothers, former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, ex-Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and former Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, responsible for mishandling the economic crisis that forced the cash-strapped country to declare bankruptcy in April 2022, local English Daily Mirror reported.

In a majority verdict on multiple petitions filed by academics and civil rights activists, the Supreme Court ruled that the respondents, who all later resigned or were sacked, had violated public trust.

Chief Justice Jayasuriya, however, observed that it would not be appropriate to order the respondents to pay compensation to the petitioners since they have not claimed so in their petitions.

The apex court, nonetheless, ordered the respondents to pay a “legal cost” of LKR150,000 ($458) each to the petitioners.

The South Asian island nation faced its worst financial crisis in decades due to economic mismanagement and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

It declared bankruptcy last year and as of September 2023, Sri Lanka had $35.1 billion in foreign debt, of which 19% was owed to China, 7% to Japan, and 5% to India.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Sri Lanka’s public debt was at 128% of its gross domestic product at the end of last year, which is “unsustainable.”

In March this year, Sri Lanka received the first $330 million tranche of the IMF’s nearly $3 billion bailout meant to support the island country.

• ex-president
• premier held responsible
• Sri Lanka
• Supreme Court