COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan court on Thursday barred former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, his politician son Namal, and 15 of their associates from leaving the country due to acts of violence against anti-government protesters.

The magistrate in Colombo’s capital has also urged police to look into mob attacks on peaceful protestors on Monday, which resulted in retaliatory violence that took nine lives and left massive devastation.

A court spokesman told AFP that a petition to the court had also requested an arrest order for Rajapaksa and his accomplices.

“But the magistrate turned it down because police, anyway, have powers to detain any suspect,” the spokesman continued.

According to victims of Monday’s violence, Rajapaksa and his top aides bussed 3,000 of their fans into the capital and incited them to assault nonviolent protestors.

Anti-government protestors were beaten with sticks and clubs by a loyalist crowd that surged out of his home.

The 76-year-old former leader is presently imprisoned at a naval base in the island nation’s east.

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