Gotabhaya Rajapaksa

Who is Gotabhaya Rajapaksa?

Lieutenant Colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa, RWP, RSP, psc, GR is a retired officer of the Sri Lanka Army, the current Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka and Chairman of Lanka Hospitals. After serving through the early parts of the country's civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels, he retired from the Army in 1992. With the election of his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa as President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was appointed Defence Secretary in November 2005.

As Defence Secretary, Rajapaksa is largely credited for masterminding the successes achieved by the Sri Lankan Military in defeating the Tamil Tigers and ending Sri Lanka's 26 year long civil war in May 2009 under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He was also one of the top targets of the Tamil Tigers, and survived an assassination attempt in December 2006 by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber. He is also accused of war crimes as reportedly ordered the killings of LTTE leaders during the bloodiest domestic civil war, prominent supporter of hardline religious group Buddhist Bodu Bala Sena and often criticised for controlling Sri Lankan media.