President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees the country on military aircraft

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flees the country on military aircraft

Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country early Wednesday on a military aircraft. Mr Rajapaksa's departure ends a family dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for decades.

The 73-year-old arrived in the capital of the Maldives, Male, at around 03:00 local time, according to the  BBC reports. He had been in hiding after crowds stormed his residence on Saturday.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left aboard a Sri Lankan Air Force plane bound for the city of Male, the capital of the Maldives, according to an immigration officer. The immigration official said authorities could not under law prevent a sitting president from leaving the country.

The president had earlier made a failed attempt to flee the country as airport staff stood in his way and forced him to beat a humiliating retreat and he was reportedly trying to escape to Dubai on Monday night. However Immigration staff prevented the president from going to the VIP area of the airport to stamp his passport and he would not go through the ordinary queues for fear of being mobbed by the public.

It is believed he wanted to go abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained. Sri Lankan presidents are protected from arrest while in power, and it is likely Rajapaksa planned his escape while he still had constitutional immunity. A corruption lawsuit against him in his former role as a defense official was withdrawn when he was elected president in 2019.