The former President fled to the Maldives a few days after protesters occupied both the President’s House and the Presidential Secretariat in Fort on 9 July 2022, following a mass public protest in Colombo.

“The movement was carried out using an aircraft of the SLAF, maintained by funds allocated to the Air Force, via the Ministry of Defence, through the Treasury,” the SLAF stated. However, when asked in the RTI request, the SLAF did not disclose the cost of this trip.

The SLAF explained that they facilitated the movement due to the President’s role as the Head of State, Head of the Executive, Government, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, at that time (as per Article 30(1) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka)