Sri Lanka’s ex-president Ranil Wickremesinghe arrested over misuse of funds

New Delhi, Aug 23: Sri Lanka’s former president Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested on Friday on charges of misusing public funds during his foreign travels while in office, police said.

The 76-year-old, who served as president from 2022 to 2024, faces three charges linked to overseas trips, including a 2023 stopover in the UK after attending the G77 summit in Cuba. The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) alleges that the visit, which included a university ceremony attended with his wife, was private but funded by the state, a claim Wickremesinghe denies.

He was produced before a Colombo magistrates’ court and remanded in custody, despite seeking bail on health grounds.

According to police, he made 23 foreign trips as president at a cost of over Rs 600 million.

Wickremesinghe, who previously served six terms as prime minister, is the first former president of Sri Lanka to be arrested. He is credited with helping stabilise the economy after the 2022 crisis that forced Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee, though he lost the 2024 presidential election to leftist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake.