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| Ranil Wickremesinghe: Sri Lanka's former president arrested | Ranil Wickremesinghe: Sri Lanka's former president arrested |
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| Sri Lanka's former president Ranil Wickremesinghe has been arrested in connection with the alleged misuse of funds, police have said. | Sri Lanka's former president Ranil Wickremesinghe has been arrested in connection with the alleged misuse of funds, police have said. |
| The charge relates to trips he took abroad while serving as president. | The charge relates to trips he took abroad while serving as president. |
| He arrived at magistrates court in the capital Colombo on Friday, having already given a statement to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) earlier in the day. | |
| Wickremesinghe served as president from 2022 to 2024, stepping into the role after the country's worst ever economic crisis triggered a popular uprising caused his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee. | Wickremesinghe served as president from 2022 to 2024, stepping into the role after the country's worst ever economic crisis triggered a popular uprising caused his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee. |
| He was widely credited with helping put the island nation back on the road to economic recovery. | He was widely credited with helping put the island nation back on the road to economic recovery. |
| Wickremesinghe also served six separate terms as prime minister from the 1990s onwards. | Wickremesinghe also served six separate terms as prime minister from the 1990s onwards. |
| According to BBC Sinhala, the 76-year-old made 23 foreign trips during his time as president, at a cost of more than Rs 600 million ($2m; £1.4m). | According to BBC Sinhala, the 76-year-old made 23 foreign trips during his time as president, at a cost of more than Rs 600 million ($2m; £1.4m). |
| Friday's arrest relates to a stop over made in the UK in 2023, on Wickremesinghe's way back from a G77 summit in Cuba, news agency AFP reports. | Friday's arrest relates to a stop over made in the UK in 2023, on Wickremesinghe's way back from a G77 summit in Cuba, news agency AFP reports. |
| On that occasion, he and his wife had attended a University of Wolverhampton ceremony. | |
| Sri Lanka's CID allege this was a private visit for which state funds were used - something Wickremesinghe has denied. | Sri Lanka's CID allege this was a private visit for which state funds were used - something Wickremesinghe has denied. |
| Their investigation was initially referred to a court in June. | |
| Wickremesinghe, who is the first former president to be arrested in Sri Lanka, has been a feature of the island nation's politics since he was first elected as MP in 1977. | |
| A lawyer by profession, he comes from an affluent family of politicians and businessmen. | |
| He was credited with cleaning up the image of the United National Party (UNP) after taking over its leadership in 1994 by bringing in a disciplinary commission to get rid of corrupt party members. | |
| Over the years, he went on to make several bids to become president - only getting the role he had long-wanted in 2022 after Rajapaksa fled. | |
| At the time his party was almost wiped out in the 2020 elections, and he was left as its sole representative in parliament. | |
| He lost the 2024 election to the left-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake. |