COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Police in Sri Lanka arrested former President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday over allegations that the senior opposition politician misused public funds during his presidency, police said.
Wickremesinghe, who was president from 2022 to 2024, is accused of using the funds to attend his wife’s graduation ceremony in London after an official visit to the United States, police spokesman Fredrick Wootler told The Associated Press.
Wickremesinghe appeared for a lengthy hearing before a magistrate court in the capital, Colombo, and was ordered to be kept in custody until Aug. 26. He didn't comment during the hearing, and there was no immediate statement from his office. A large crowd of Wickremesinghe's supporters gathered outside the court to protest his arrest.
Wickremesinghe is the first Sri Lankan former head of state to be arrested and the most prominent leader under investigation for corruption under the government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who came to power last year on an anti-corruption platform.
Dissanayake won the presidential election in September when voters rejected an old guard accused of leading the country into an economic crisis. Two months later, his party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary election that enabled him to form a strong government.
Already more than a dozen former high government officials and political leaders are under investigation for alleged wrongdoing.
Wickremesinghe became president after Sri Lanka’s economic upheaval led to a political crisis that forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign in 2022.
Wickremesinghe was credited with stabilizing the crumbling economy. Under his leadership, inflation fell, the local currency strengthened and foreign reserves increased. But he faced public backlash over his government's stringent austerity measures, including raising taxes and utility rates, imposed as part of a bailout package with the International Monetary Fund.
Bharatha Mallawarachi, The Associated Press
