Sri Lankan ex-president Wickremesinghe shifted to ICU after remand

Colombo, Aug 23 (PTI) Sri Lanka's former president Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Saturday shifted to the intensive care unit of the Colombo National Hospital, a day after he was arrested and refused bail over alleged misuse of state funds during his tenure.

Wickremesinghe, 76, was taken to the main Magazine Remand prison close to midnight on Friday after the Colombo Fort magistrate's court remanded him till August 26.

He was admitted to the prison hospital as his blood sugar and blood pressure levels were high, prison spokesman Jagath Weerasinghe said.

By afternoon, there was no improvement and the prison doctors opined that he should be transferred to the Colombo National Hospital.

Wickremesinghe was kept in the emergency care unit first but was later transferred to the intensive care unit of the Colombo National Hospital, director of the hospital Dr Rukshan Bellana told reporters.

The former president was arrested at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters on Friday, where he was summoned to record a statement in connection with an investigation into the alleged misuse of government funds amounting to Sri Lankan rupees 16.6 million.

The veteran opposition leader was subsequently brought before the Colombo Fort magistrate's court.

The CID charged him under Section 386 and 388 of the penal code and under Section 5(1) of the Public Properties Act. The charges carry a punishment of not less than one year but not exceeding 20 years in jail.

After a lengthy session which lasted over six hours, Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura remanded him while ruling that the defence lawyers had failed to submit any special matters that would have been possible for the court to grant bail to the former president.

A stream of former colleagues and rivals, including former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, visited Wickremesinghe on Saturday.

“He was in good spirits and appeared normal. He understands being remanded is part of politics and one’s fate as a politician”, Rajapaksa, 80, told reporters.

The main opposition leader, Sajith Premadasa, one of Wickremesinghe’s strongest rivals, said, “I visited him and spoke to him. He was fine.” Earlier, prison officials said Wickremesinghe’s request to have home-cooked food was allowed.

Wickremesinghe, who served as president from 2022 to 2024, has been accused of using state funds to travel to England to attend a convocation ceremony of his wife, Prof Maithree, in September 2023.

It has been alleged that Wickremesinghe was returning from the US after an official engagement and visited the UK at the state's expense to attend the private engagement of his wife.

The CID had previously questioned his staff about the travel expenses.

Wickremesinghe, who had replaced Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president to serve the balance term until the end of 2024, was credited with steering Sri Lanka out of the economic crisis of 2022. PTI CORR RD NPK NPK