Sri Lanka's former president's son has been apprehended on charges of corruption

The son of Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa has been arrested and remanded until September 18 on corruption charges related to the acquisition of Airbus planes by the national carrier SriLankan Airlines, a top court announced on Friday.

Namal Rajapaksa is a lawmaker representing the opposition Sri Lanka Podujana. Peramuna was arrested after over five hours of questioning by Sri Lanka's primary anti-corruption agency, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption. The remand order was issued by Colombo Chief Magistrate Asanga S. Bodaragama.

Rajapaksa has repeatedly asserted his innocence. His lawyers were unavailable for comment at that moment.

His arrest is part of an ongoing investigation into a multi-million-dollar purchase of planes from European manufacturer Airbus in 2013. A delegation from Airbus visited Colombo in August to aid in the investigations.

Airbus reached an agreement with French, British, and U.S. authorities in 2020 following a three-year investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption related to jetliner sales. It was given a fine of $4 billion to resolve the case.

SriLankan Airlines and Airbus did not provide a response to a request for comment at this time.