Sri Lankans Protest Former President’s Arrest on Corruption Allegations 

More than 1,000 supporters of Sri Lanka’s former President Ranil Wickremesinghe took to the streets Tuesday to protest his arrest over allegations of misusing public funds while in office, the Associated Press reported. 

Wickremesinghe, who served as president from 2022 to 2024 and was prime minister six times before that, was detained Friday on allegations that he misused public funds to attend his wife’s graduation ceremony in London following an official trip to the US in 2023. 

The first former Sri Lankan head of state to be arrested, Wickremesinghe, is the highest-profile figure facing a corruption probe under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who took office last year on an anti-corruption platform. 

Over a dozen other former senior government officials are currently being probed for alleged misconduct. 

Wickremesinghe, 76, appeared before the court virtually as he was admitted Saturday to the intensive care unit of a state-run hospital over health concerns. Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura of Colombo city’s Fort district ordered his release on bail set at $16,600 following a lengthy hearing conducted under tight security, Al Jazeera noted. 

Protesters wearing black clothes, waving black flags, and calling for Wickremesinghe’s immediate release marched in the streets of Colombo, one of the country’s two capitals. 

Wickremesinghe’s party has rejected the allegations, saying the leader had attended the graduation ceremony on an invitation he received in his official capacity. 

His arrest has angered opposition lawmakers, who labeled it a political witch hunt and damaging to the country’s democracy.  

However, Transport and Highways Minister Bimal Rathnayake countered that Wickremesinghe’s arrest was not political revenge but was carried out according to the country’s law.