The former president of Lankais-Sri arrested for allegedly funded a personal trip with state money

On Friday, Sri Lankan police arrested the former president of the country and the main opposition politician Ranil Wickremesinghe for allegations of bad uses of public funds during his mandate as president, police announced.

WickREMESINGHE, who was president of the insular nation from 2022 to 2024, was arrested to use public funds to attend the graduation ceremony in London after an official visit to the United States, police spokesman Fedrick Wootler told the Associated Press.

Wickremesinghe assistant Danushka Ramanayake said that the former president had been brought before a court after being arrested by the financial crimes department.

WickREMESINGHE is the first former Sri Lankan head of state to be arrested and is the most publicized leader under investigation for corruption under the government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who came to power last year to promise to punish people accused of corruption under previous governments.

Dissanayake won the presidential election in September of last year in an election that saw voters reject an old guard accused of having led the country to an economic crisis. Two months later, his party won a landslide victory in the legislative elections which enabled him to form a strong government.

Already, more than a dozen political leaders of the previous government and former representatives of the high government have been arrested and are the subject of an alleged corruption and professional fault investigation.

Wickremesinghe became president after the economic upheavals of Sri Lanka led to a political crisis which forced the president of the time, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to resign in 2022.

WickREMESINGHE is credited with the stabilization of the economy in ruins, as inflation has dropped, the local currency has strengthened and foreign reserves have increased under it. But it was seriously criticized for having implemented strict austerity measures, including the increase in taxes and public service bills, which has been part of a rescue package that its government has concluded with the International Monetary Fund.