Sri Lanka arrests former president Ranil Wickremesinghe over alleged misuse of state funds
Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested on Friday by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over allegations of misuse of state funds.
The 76-year-old was taken into custody after arriving at the CID office in Colombo to provide a statement regarding his trip to London to attend his wife’s graduation ceremony. He was expected to appear in court later the same day, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
A police spokesperson did not immediately confirm the arrest, and Wickremesinghe’s office did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Wickremesinghe, leader of the United National Party (UNP), served as prime minister six times before becoming president in 2022 amid Sri Lanka’s severe financial crisis. He assumed the presidency after widespread protests forced his predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to flee the country.
In last year’s presidential election—the first since the economic meltdown—Wickremesinghe finished third, behind Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who won, and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa. His tenure had included a fragile economic recovery and austerity measures that sparked public discontent.
Born into a prominent political and business family, Wickremesinghe became Sri Lanka’s youngest cabinet minister at 29 in 1978, appointed by his uncle, President Junius Jayewardene, and later rose to lead the UNP following political assassinations in 1994.
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