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GR returns : ‘Will be given security detail as an ex-President’

04 Sep 2022

Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (GR) will be given a security detail in accordance with the Constitution following a threat assessment, Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles said yesterday (3).  “He will be offered a security detail from the Police and the Army in accordance with the privileges of an Executive President. Sri Lanka has done so with several former presidents and their families,” Minister Alles told The Sunday Morning.  He pointed out that former First Lady Hema Premadasa and former Presidents Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa remained under the protection of the State in accordance with the Constitution. According to Alles, a protection group for the seventh Executive President will be formed, similar to the units formed for the previous presidents. This will be made up of Police and Army personnel, depending on the threat assessment that will be carried out.  When contacted, the Sri Lanka Army and the Ministry of Defence did not comment on the security arrangements except to say that a security detail would be provided following a threat assessment. However, a senior defence official told The Sunday Morning that former President Rajapaksa was likely to be guarded by a team of Army Commandos, along with personnel from the President’s Security Division (PSD) and the Special Task Force (STF). The ousted President, the first elected president to resign from his post, returned to Sri Lanka on Friday (2) night from Thailand and was escorted in a motorcade to a State residence in Colombo 7.    – By Asiri Fernando  


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