Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested for allegedly “misusing government funds”, news agency AFP reported, citing a senior police detective on Friday.
He was taken into custody after
being interrogated about his visit to London in September 2023, when he was the president, to attend a ceremony for his wife at a British university, the official said.
He will be produced before a Colombo Fort magistrate.
The cops are pressing charges against him for allegedly using state resources for personal purposes.
Why Was Ranil Wickremesinghe Arrested?
Wickremesinghe had stopped in London while he was on his way back from Havana, where he participated in the G77 summit. He and his wife, Maithree, had taken part in a ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton.
The Sri Lankan leader had said that his wife’s travel expenses were borne by her and denied the use of any state funds for her personal purposes.
However, the country’s Criminal Investigation Department of the police alleged that he had used the government funds to meet his travel expenses on a private visit and also claimed that his bodyguards were paid by the state.
Wickremesinghe had assumed the presidency in July 2022 for the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term after the latter stepped down from the post following months of protests over alleged corruption and mismanagement.
Wickremesinghe was given the credit for stabilising the country’s economy after Sri Lanka was struck with the worst-ever financial crisis in 2022. However, he lost his re-election run in September last year.
