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Sri Lankan president, wife, 2 guards escape in Air Force jet

Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has fled to the Maldives on a military jet hours. He reportedly left with his wife and two security guards Tuesday, a day before he was due to resign on Wednesday. Protests have continued to rock the country, with calls on the president and the prime minister to step down.

After Rajapaksa’s departure, the office of the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, said a state of emergency had been declared. But defiant protesters continue to storm government offices. The prime minister is believed to have been appointed acting president.

“Under the provisions of the constitution and on a request by the government, the Sri Lanka air force provided a plane early today to fly the president, his wife and two security officials to the Maldives,” a statement said. They arrived in Malé, the Maldives capital, at 3am.

At the time of the president’s departure on Wednesday morning, he still had not submitted a letter of resignation.

Protesters, activists and lawyers have called for the president to be prosecuted, along with various Rajapaksa family members, over alleged corruption and human rights abuses.

However, while he is still president, Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest. It is believed he will not officially resign until he reaches his final destination of the United Arab Emirates, which has long been a haven for disgraced leaders.

As news of Rajapaksa’s departure to the Maldives broke on Wednesday morning, protests erupted across Colombo with people demanding he step down immediately. There was a heavy security presence outside the office of Wickremesinghe, and teargas and water cannon were deployed by police as the crowds gathered to demand the prime minister also step down.

Rajapaksa had invoked his emergency power in order to give him easy escape to the Maldives. His earlier attempt to flee the country was futile.

He was blocked from boarding a commercial flight to Dubai on Monday night after airport staff refused to stamp his passport in the VIP area of the airport. India also refused to give permission for his plane to land on its soil.

The president’s younger brother Basil Rajapaksa, who served as finance minister, was also prevented from boarding a flight to Dubai en route to the US, where he is a dual citizen. Basil, too, was reported to have left Sri Lanka on Tuesday night.

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