An advert in The Herald alerted readers that Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who stands credibly accused of war crimes, was in Glasgow today for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26.
This is the latest in a series of several adverts that have featured in Scottish national papers over the last week as part of a widespread publicity campaign by Scottish Tamils as Rajapaksa attends COP26 in his first high profile visit to the UK.
Rajapaksa, nicknamed ‘The Terminator”, oversaw the military offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamils at the end of the armed conflict.
Earlier today, Tamil protesters blocked the entrance of the Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Dunblane after they received reports that Rajapaksa was staying there.
Whilst Rajapaksa waited inside his hotel, a digital van was roaming the streets of Dunblane. “Wanted for genocide,” the advert read.
Later in the day, hundreds of British Tamils lined the south side of River Clyde directly across from the COP26 venue, to denounce the war crimes accused president and his abysmal human rights record.
Last week, a landmark legal submission was filed with the International Criminal Court (ICC) calling on the Chief Prosecutor to “investigate and in due course arrest” several senior Sri Lankan officials, including Rajapaksa, for crimes against humanity.
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