Sarath Fonseka, a former general who last year helped end the country’s 25-year civil war against the Tamil Tiger terrorist group, was forcibly detained on Feb. 8 for alleged treason.
Just last month, Fonseka was defeated in a presidential election by the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa, by 6 million votes to 4 million.
The pair had been close allies but fell out at the end of last year. Fonseka quit his post and fought a bitter election campaign against Rajapaksa.
As the election results were counted on Jan. 26, the hotel Fonseka was in with his opposition allies, was surrounded by security forces.
Later, Fonseka complained about intimidation and alleged that Rajapaksa had stolen 1 million votes from him.
Following his arrest, government minister Keheliya Rambukwella said that Fonseka would stand trial in a military court.
“When he was the army commander in chief of defense and member of the security council, he had direct contact with opposition political parties, which under the military law can amount to conspiracy,” Rambukwella told the Associated Press.
“He’s been plotting against the president while in the military ... with the idea of overthrowing the government,” he added.
On the day he was arrested, Fonseka vowed to give evidence to an international war crimes tribunal brought against Sri Lanka over alleged government abuses in the civil war period.
“I am definitely going to reveal what I know, what I was told and what I heard,” he told reporters. “Anyone who has committed war crimes should definitely be brought into the courts.”
Shortly afterward, Fonseka was meeting with allied politicians at his office, when military police arrived with a warrant for his arrest.
The Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem told Reuters news agency, “He was dragged away in a very disgraceful manner in front of our own eyes.”
