Sri Lanka’s former president Ranil Wickremesinghe has been arrested for allegedly misusing funds, as stated by police. He faces charges regarding trips made while he was in office. On Friday, Wickremesinghe appeared in Colombo’s magistrates court after previously giving a statement to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). Serving as president from 2022 to 2024, he assumed the role following an economic crisis that led to his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing. Wickremesinghe is recognized for aiding the country’s economic recovery and had served six terms as prime minister since the 1990s. According to BBC Sinhala, Wickremesinghe, 76, took 23 foreign trips as president, costing over Rs 600 million ($2m; £1.4m). The arrest pertains to a 2023 UK stopover on his way back from a G77 summit in Cuba, where he and his wife attended a University of Wolverhampton event. The CID claims it was a private visit funded by the state, which Wickremesinghe denies. This investigation was directed to a court in June. As the first former president to be arrested in Sri Lanka, Wickremesinghe has been active in the country’s politics since 1977 and comes from a wealthy political and business family. As a lawyer, he improved the United National Party (UNP) image by eliminating corrupt members after taking leadership in 1994. Despite several attempts to become president, he achieved the position in 2022 after Rajapaksa fled. His party nearly vanished in the 2020 elections, leaving him as its sole parliament representative. He lost the 2024 election to Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a left-leaning candidate.
