Mahinda Rajapaksa charged for Sri Lankan war crimes

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been charged with war crimes in a Melbourne court over the civil war in his country.

Sri Lankan-born Australian Arunachalam Jegatheeswaran filed an indictment against Rajapaksa yesterday, declaring he was seeking justice for thousands who lost their lives in a series of aerial bombardments and ground attacks on shelters, schools, hospitals, orphanages and community centres, The Age reports.   

''People are still suffering because of what he did and I think the world should know,'' Jegatheeswaran said.

Jegatheeswaran, who was a volunteer aid worker in Sri Lanka from 2007 to 2009, said: ''I've seen all of these things. I can't bear that the person who is responsible for all of this - who is the commander-in-chief - is coming to my country and getting off scot-free. I'm asking the highest court of justice in Australia to decide whether he is guilty or not guilty.''

The court move coincides with this week's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, which the Sri Lankan president is attending.

The indictment had been filed under the Australian criminal code with the Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday and set for hearing on November 29, his lawyer, Rob Stary, said.