World

Sri Lanka ex-president's son arrested on graft charges

By AAP Newswire

Sep 5, 2026

Mahinda Rajapaksa and Namal Rajapaksa — Namal Rajapaksa, the son of former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, has been arrested. -EPA

The son of Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa ‌has been arrested and remanded until September 18 on graft ‌charges linked to purchases of Airbus planes by SriLankan Airlines, a top court says.

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Namal Rajapaksa, who is an MP representing the opposition Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, was arrested following more than five hours ‌of questioning ‌by ⁠Sri Lanka's key anti-graft body, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.

The order to remand him was issued by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S Bodaragama.

Rajapaksa has consistently denied wrongdoing.

His lawyers were not ⁠immediately available for ‌comment.

His arrest is part of an ongoing investigation into a multimillion-dollar purchase of ‌planes from European manufacturer Airbus in 2013.

A delegation from Airbus was in Colombo in August to assist with the investigations.

Airbus reached a deal with French, UK and US authorities in 2020 after a ‌three-year probe into allegations of bribery and corruption over jetliner sales.

It was handed a $US4 billion ($A5.6 billion) fine to settle the case.

SriLankan Airlines and Airbus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.