Sri Lanka's former president Wickremesinghe admitted to prison hospital after bail rejected by court
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Sri Lanka's former president Wickremesinghe admitted to prison hospital after bail rejected by court")
Sri Lanka former president Ranil Wickremesinghe Photograph: (ANI)
The former Sri Lankan president argues that the expenses of the trip was funded by his wife and they did not use public money for it.
Sri Lanka's former president Ranil Wickremesinghe was shifted to a prison hospital after being granted bail over alleged misuse of government funds during his tenure. He was admitted to the Magazine Remand prison hospital as his blood sugar and blood pressure levels were high, said prison spokesman Jagath Weerasinghe on Saturday.
Wickremesinghe, 76, will remain in police custody till August 26 after his bail plea was rejected by Colombo Fort magistrate's court.
After over six hours of lengthy session, Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura remanded him while ruling that the defence lawyers had failed to submit any strong argument that would have allowed the court to grant the former president bail.
Wickremesinghe has been charged under Section 386 and 388 of the penal code and under Section 5(1) of the Public Properties Act, reported news agency PTI. The charges carry a punishment of one to 20 years in jail, if proven guilty
What is the case
The case is related to Wickremesinghe's September 2023 London visit. The former president on his way back to Sri Lanka from Havana, where the G77 summit was held had stopped in London where he and his wife, Maithree, attended a University of Wolverhampton ceremony.
Trending Stories
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
The former Sri Lankan president argues that the expenses of the trip was funded by his wife and they did not use public money for it. However, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) alleges that Wickremesinghe used government funds for the trip including covering the expenses of his bodyguards.
Wickremesinghe Tenure
In July 2022, during the deepening economic crisis in Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted from power in a massive countrywide protest. Wickremesinghe took over the reigns and helped the fragile economy recover securing a $2.9 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF), tamed runaway inflation, and rebuild dollar reserves.
Wickremesinghe also set the groundwork for Sri Lanka to start debt restructuring talks with its official creditors and bondholders.
In September of 24, Wickremesinghe lost his re-election bid to the left-wing AK Disannayake in a close fought contest that went into the second round.
