Court Bars Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Two Former Military Officers from Overseas Travel Over Easter Sunday Probe
The Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court has imposed overseas travel bans on former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and two retired military officers as part of the continuing judicial investigation into the devastating 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.
The order, issued on Wednesday, also restricts the movements of retired Colonel Mohamad Ansar and former intelligence officer Premananda Udalagama, preventing all three individuals from leaving Sri Lanka while investigations remain active.
Ongoing Accountability Process
The travel restrictions signal a significant development in the long-running legal proceedings surrounding the coordinated bombings that struck churches and luxury hotels across Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019, killing more than 260 people and injuring hundreds more.
The inclusion of the former head of state among those subject to court-ordered travel bans underscores the breadth of the investigation, which has sought to examine alleged intelligence failures and the conduct of senior officials in the lead-up to the attacks.
Retired Colonel Mohamad Ansar and former intelligence officer Premananda Udalagama, both linked to the country's defence and intelligence establishment at the time of the bombings, are also now bound by the Magistrate's Court directive.
Background to the Investigation
The Easter Sunday attacks remain one of the darkest chapters in Sri Lanka's modern history. Despite years of parliamentary inquiries, presidential commissions, and criminal proceedings, calls for full accountability have persisted from victims' families, civil society organisations, and international human rights bodies.
Questions have long been raised over whether advance warnings received by intelligence agencies were adequately acted upon, and whether senior officials in the security establishment bear responsibility for the failures that allowed the attacks to proceed.
The Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court is expected to continue hearings as investigators pursue answers to those unresolved questions.
