Former Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa fears prosecution of entire family by new government

COLOMBO: Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa today expressed fears that the new government led by his successor Maithripala Sirisena might end up prosecuting his entire family, a day after his two younger brothers faced questioning by anti-graft investigators.

"Next, it will be Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Namal Rajapaksa and Yoshitha Rajapaksa", the former President said.

Namal - a parliamentarian - and Yoshitha are Rajapaksa's sons while Gotabhaya is his younger brother.

Rajapaksa's comments came after he visited his youngest brother Basil Rajapaksa at the national hospital where he is warded under remand custody.

Basil, the economic development minister in his older brother's neary decade-long rule, was arrested on Wednesday by the police's Financial Crime Investigation Unit.

He was accused of misappropriating 77 million rupees of state funds meant for livelihood development.

Rajapaksa said his family was being hounded by the Sirisena government on trumped-up charges.

Gotabhaya, who served as the powerful defence ministry secretary, appeared yesterday for the second time before the anti-graft commission as Basil faced his own interrogation behind bars.

The new government has pursued complaints of misdeeds under Rajapaksa's regime and several top ranking officials have already faced prosecution.