Former Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe arrested on allegations of
misusing state funds
[August 23, 2025]
By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI
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. |
Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe inspects a military guard of
honour after arriving at the parliamentary complex in Colombo, Sri
Lanka, Aug. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena, File) |
|
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
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