Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe Arrested for Alleged Fund Misuse
Wickremesinghe, who served as president from 2022 to 2024, is the first former president to be arrested in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka's former president Ranil Wickremesinghe has been arrested on charges of alleged fund misuse related to foreign trips he took while in office.
The 76-year-old was taken into custody after giving a statement to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) earlier on Friday and appeared at magistrates court in Colombo.
Wickremesinghe, who served as president from 2022 to 2024, succeeded Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose departure marked the end of the country's worst economic crisis, which led to widespread protests forcing Rajapaksa to flee.
During his tenure, Wickremesinghe was credited with stabilizing Sri Lanka's economy and served as prime minister on six separate occasions between the 1990s and 2022.
The allegations against him involve a stopover in the UK in 2023 en route from a G77 summit in Cuba for a University of Wolverhampton ceremony, which he denies was a private visit funded by the state.
Initially referred to a court in June, Wickremesinghe's arrest marks the first time a former Sri Lankan president has been arrested.
A long-standing figure in Sri Lanka's political landscape, he previously led the United National Party (UNP) and made several attempts to secure the presidency before finally succeeding in 2022.
The 76-year-old was taken into custody after giving a statement to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) earlier on Friday and appeared at magistrates court in Colombo.
Wickremesinghe, who served as president from 2022 to 2024, succeeded Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose departure marked the end of the country's worst economic crisis, which led to widespread protests forcing Rajapaksa to flee.
During his tenure, Wickremesinghe was credited with stabilizing Sri Lanka's economy and served as prime minister on six separate occasions between the 1990s and 2022.
The allegations against him involve a stopover in the UK in 2023 en route from a G77 summit in Cuba for a University of Wolverhampton ceremony, which he denies was a private visit funded by the state.
Initially referred to a court in June, Wickremesinghe's arrest marks the first time a former Sri Lankan president has been arrested.
A long-standing figure in Sri Lanka's political landscape, he previously led the United National Party (UNP) and made several attempts to secure the presidency before finally succeeding in 2022.
