Sri Lanka arrests former President Wickremesinghe, local media reports

According to local media outlet Ada Derana, the Criminal Investigation Department detained former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday in relation to claims that he had misappropriated public funds.

According to the story, Wickremesinghe, 76, was arrested after showing up at the CID office in the capital city of Colombo to provide a statement as part of an inquiry into his trip to London to attend his wife’s graduation ceremony.

The arrest was not immediately confirmed by a Sri Lankan police spokeswoman. A Reuters request for comment was not answered by Wickremesinghe’s office.
According to local media, he was scheduled to appear in court later on Friday.  During the crippling financial crisis in 2022, Wickremesinghe, a lawyer who held the record six prime ministerships in Sri Lanka, was appointed president.

After his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa was forced to leave the nation and subsequently resign due to widespread protests brought on by an economic meltdown, Wickremesinghe became leadership of the United National Party (UNP).

In the first presidential election after the economic crisis, he came in third place behind opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Marxist Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who emerged victorious.

Wickremesinghe led a successful but precarious economic recovery that included austerity measures that infuriated voters, and the election was a referendum on him.
Wickremesinghe was born into a well-known family of politicians and businesspeople with significant media holdings. In 1978, his uncle, President Junius Jayewardene, appointed him the youngest cabinet minister in the nation at the age of 29.

In 1994, following assassinations that wiped out several of his senior colleagues, Wickremesinghe became leader of the UNP.