اعتقال رئيس سريلانكا السابق بتهمة استغلال أموال الدولة

The Sri Lankan authorities have arrested former President Ranil Wickremesinghe (76 years old) on charges of misusing state funds to attend his wife's graduation ceremony in London after an official visit to America.

The Associated Press reported that one of Wickremesinghe's aides stated that the former president was taken to court after the Financial Crimes Investigation Division arrested him.

Wickremesinghe took over the presidency following the economic crisis that led to the flight of then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and he remained in power until September 2024.

It is noteworthy that Wickremesinghe, who served as president from 2022 to 2024, is the first former Sri Lankan president to be arrested, and he is one of the most prominent opposition figures to be detained as part of a corruption crackdown launched by the new leftist government.

The anti-corruption units in Sri Lanka have been leading this campaign since Anura Kumara Dissanayake assumed the presidency in September 2024, amid promises to combat corruption.

French news agency AFP quoted a Sri Lankan police investigator as saying that Wickremesinghe, who lost the recent elections to Dissanayake, was detained after being questioned about a visit he made to London in September 2023 to attend a tribute ceremony for his wife at a British university.

The investigator stated, "We will bring him before the Colombo Fort Court," adding that he faces charges of misusing state resources for personal purposes.

Wickremesinghe stopped in London in 2023 on his way back from Havana, where he attended the Group of 77 summit. His office previously denied that Wickremesinghe had misused his position to visit London. The Criminal Investigation Division of the Sri Lankan police interrogated three of his senior aides in August.

Wickremesinghe, accompanied by his wife Maithri, attended a ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton, during which his wife was awarded an honorary professorship. He confirmed that his wife paid for her travel expenses and that no public funds were used, but the "Criminal Investigation Division" reported that Wickremesinghe used government funds to cover his travel expenses for a private visit, and that the costs of his personal security were paid from public money.

Wickremesinghe assumed the presidency in July 2022 for the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa's term, who resigned after months of protests over corruption and mismanagement.

Wickremesinghe secured a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund at the beginning of 2023 and was credited with stabilizing the economy after the worst financial crisis the country faced in 2022, but he doubled taxes and eliminated energy subsidies as part of strict austerity measures to increase state revenues.

He lost the battle for re-election in September, but remained a key opposition figure, even though his coalition holds only two seats in the 225-member parliament.

Several members of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's family have been charged with misusing public funds and are being tried. Some of them have been released on bail pending court sessions.