Former President of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe Arrested Amid Fund Misuse Allegations

The former president, who led Sri Lanka during a tumultuous economic period, has been remanded in custody despite health concerns regarding bail.

Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has been detained by police due to allegations of misusing state funds during his presidency. According to police reports, he faces three charges tied to various trips he made abroad while holding office. The 76-year-old politician appeared before a magistrate in Colombo on Friday, following an earlier statement given to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on the same day. Despite requesting bail for health reasons, he has been remanded in custody.

Wickremesinghe held presidential office from 2022 to 2024, stepping in as leader after a severe economic crisis led to a public uprising and the subsequent resignation of his predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Many have credited Wickremesinghe with initiating economic recovery efforts in the country. He has also served as prime minister on six occasions since the 1990s.

According to reports from BBC Sinhala, Wickremesinghe made an extensive 23 foreign trips during his presidency, amounting to over Rs 600 million (around $2 million) in expenses. The current allegations stem from a 2023 stopover in the UK when he returned from the G77 summit in Cuba. During this visit, Wickremesinghe and his wife attended a ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton, but the CID claims this was a personal trip funded by state resources, a claim that Wickremesinghe has firmly denied.

This arrest marks a historic moment as Wickremesinghe is the first former president in Sri Lanka to be taken into custody. His political career, which began with his election as an MP in 1977, has seen him navigate through various campaigns for presidency over the decades. Following challenges to his leadership and party, he eventually rose to the presidency in 2022, only to face political defeat in the 2024 elections to left-leaning candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake.