Sri Lanka arrests former president Ranil Wickremesinghe in anti-corruption crackdown
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Former Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe was taken into custody on Aug 22.
PHOTO: AFP
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COLOMBO - Former Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested on Aug 22, making him the most senior opposition figure to be detained under an anti-corruption crackdown by the new leftist government.
Sri Lanka’s anti-graft units have led the crackdown since President Anura Kumara Dissanayake came to power in September on a promise to fight corruption.
Mr Wickremesinghe, 76, who lost the last election to Mr Dissanayake, 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.
Mr Wickremesinghe stopped in London in 2023 on his way back from Havana, where he attended a Group of 77 summit.
His office had previously denied that he abused his position to visit London.
Three of his then senior aides were questioned in August by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
He and his wife Maithree attended a University of Wolverhampton ceremony. Mr Wickremesinghe maintained that his wife’s travel expenses were met by her and that no state funds were used.
But the CID alleged that Mr Wickremesinghe used government money for his trip, on a private visit, and that his bodyguards were also paid by the state.
Mr Wickremesinghe became president in July 2022
Mr Wickremesinghe secured a US$2.9 billion (S$3.7 billion) bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in early 2023 and was credited with stabilising the economy after the country’s worst-ever financial meltdown in 2022.
He doubled taxes and removed energy subsidies as part of tough austerity measures to raise state revenue.
He lost his re-election bid in September 2024, but remained a key opposition figure despite his coalition holding only two seats in the 225-member Parliament.
An ally from his United National Party (UNP) proclaimed his innocence and suggested the case was politically motivated.
“Ranil Wickremesinghe has never misused public funds or state funds,” UNP member Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe told reporters gathered outside the court complex where the former president appeared in Colombo.
“He was the person who stepped up and accepted the challenge to save this country when the economy collapsed,” Mr Warnasinghe said.
“That is the person who is being treated like this today by this government.”
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.
Mr Dissanayake’s government earlier in August impeached the police chief after accusing him of running a criminal network that supported politicians. The prisons chief was also jailed for corruption. AFP
