Sri Lankan police have arrested former president Ranil Wickremesinghe over allegations he misused public funds during his time as head of state.
Police alleged that Mr Wickremesinghe, who served as the island nation's president from 2022 to 2024, was arrested on allegations of using public funds to attend his wife's graduation ceremony in London after an official visit to the US, spokesman Fedrick Wootler told The Associated Press.
The former president was taken to a court after being arrested by the Financial Crimes Investigations Department.
The court remanded him in custody until a second hearing on the matter on Tuesday.
He is the first Sri Lankan former head of state to be arrested and is the most high-profile leader who is under investigation for corruption under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's government, which came to power last year promising to punish those accused of corruption under previous governments
Mr Dissanayake won the presidential election in September last year in an election that saw voters reject an old guard accused of leading the country into an economic crisis.
Two months later, his party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary election, enabling him to form a strong government.
Already, more than a dozen political leaders of the previous government and former high government officials have been arrested and are under investigation for alleged corruption and malpractice.
Mr Wickremesinghe became president after Sri Lanka's economic upheaval led to a political crisis that forced then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign in 2022.
He is credited with stabilising the crumbling economy, with inflation falling, the local currency strengthened and foreign reserves increased.
However, he was severely criticised for implementing stringent austerity measures, including raising taxes and utility bills, that came as part of a bailout package with the International Monetary Fund entered into by his government.
AP/AFP/ABC
