COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s former President Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested on Friday (Aug 22) for allegedly “misusing government funds”, a senior police detective told AFP.
Wickremesinghe was taken into custody after being questioned about a September 2023 visit to London to attend a ceremony for his wife at a British university while he was head of state, the officer said.
“We are producing him before the Colombo Fort magistrate,” the officer said, adding that they were pressing charges for using state resources for personal purposes.
Wickremesinghe had stopped in London in 2023 on his way back from Havana, where he attended a G77 summit.
He and his wife, Maithree, attended a University of Wolverhampton ceremony.
Wickremesinghe had maintained that his wife’s travel expenses were met by her and that no state funds were used.
However, the Criminal Investigation Department of the police alleged that Wickremesinghe used government money for his travel on a private visit and that his bodyguards were also paid by the state.
Wickremesinghe became president in July 2022 for the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term, after Rajapaksa stepped down following months of protests over alleged corruption and mismanagement.
Wickremesinghe is credited with stabilising the economy after the country’s worst-ever financial meltdown in 2022.
He lost his re-election bid in September but remained a key opposition figure despite his coalition holding only two seats in the 225-member parliament.
Members of Wickremesinghe’s United National Party were seen arriving at the Colombo Fort magistrate’s court, where he was due to be taken later on Friday.
Key opposition politicians, including two former senior ministers, have been jailed for up to 25 years for corruption since the new leftist government took office.
Several members of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s family have also been charged with misusing state funds and are being prosecuted. Many of them are currently on bail pending court hearings.
Dissanayake’s government earlier this month impeached the police chief after accusing him of running a criminal network that supported politicians. The prisons chief was also jailed for corruption.
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