An indictment for war crimes charges greeted Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he arrived in Australia Monday.

Sri Lankan-born Australian Arunachalam Jegatheeswaran filed the charges before the Melbourne Magistrate Court on the day Rajapaksa came to attend the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth from Oct. 28 to 30. The charges was the first filed in court against Rajapaksa for allegedly allowing military attacks on civilians in the Tamil rebels' stronghold in northeastern Sri Lanka in 2009.

Jegatheeswaran, 63, is seeking justice for civilians killed and wounded in aerial bombings on shelters, schools, hospitals, orphanages and community centres in northern Sri Lanka at the height of the military's offensive against Tamil rebels in 2009. The Sri Lankan army eventually defeated the rebels in their own territory.
Jegatheeswaran, a Tamil and sympathiser of the rebels, is claiming that he personally witnessed the attacks while he was a volunteer aid worker in Sri Lanka from 2007 to 2009.

"I saw Sri Lankan planes directing bombs into towns and open areas where displaced people were congregated, including areas declared as no-fire zones. I saw many hundreds of civilians killed and injured by these attacks. I also witnessed many civilian buildings and public facilities damaged or destroyed by aerial bombardments. I saw houses, shelters for displaced people, schools, hospitals, religious temples, orphanages and community centres shelled and bombed," said Jegatheeswaran, according to Canberra Times.

"'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," he said.

Jegatheeswaran's attorney, Rob Stary, has asked the Australian Federal Police to serve the indictment on Rajapaksa.
The court has set the first hearing on Nov. 29. But the Australian Federal Police (AFP) will have a say if the case will continue and be referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration based on substantial evidence.

The International Commission of Jurists, an international human rights non-governmental organization, has compiled evidences and submitted these to the AFP. The commission also recommended to AFP that it investigate Rajapaksa and Sri Lanka's high commissioner to Australia, Thisara Samarasinghe, and other Sri Lankan military and political figures.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan government issued a statement in response to a request by Lifeline for an interview regarding the indictment.

"The issue of the proceedings which are apparently to be the subject of your story are plainly a violation of Australia's obligations under public international law. Furthermore, the purported proceedings are incompetent under Australian law," the government said, according to ABC.net.au.