Wife says Sri Lanka’s defeated presidential candidate cut off from family after arrest

Family says former general cut off after arrest

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s defeated presidential candidate and former army chief has been cut off from family and friends after being arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government while serving as army commander, his wife said Tuesday.

The government says Gen. Sarath Fonseka, who as the top general helped defeat the Tamil Tiger rebels last May, will be court-martialed for allegedly planning to overthrow the government while serving as the head of the army.

A separate government statement said the former army chief was “hell-bent on betraying the gallant armed forces of Sri Lanka,” after reportedly saying that anyone who has committed war crimes should be prosecuted, and that he would assist in that process.

More than 7,000 civilians were killed in the final months of the fighting that crushed the rebels last May. Human rights groups have accused the military of shelling hospitals and heavily populated civilian areas during the fighting, and the rebels of holding the local population as human shields. A U.S. State Department report has accused both sides of possible war crimes, and the issue remains a sensitive subject for the government.

Fonseka was hauled away from his office by military police on Monday evening after objecting to his arrest, opposition politician Rauff Hakeem told The Associated Press.

Fonseka’s wife, Anoma, told reporters that she has not been allowed to meet her husband or told where he is being held.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Prasad Samarasinghe denied that Fonseka is cut off from family or friends.

“Family members are allowed to see him and he has been allowed to obtain legal advice also,” he said, adding that the former commander is not even in a cell.

Fonseka and President Mahinda Rajapaksa were once strong allies and partners in ending the country’s 25-year civil war last May. But they subsequently had a falling out, and Fonseka quit his post. They contested a bitter election last month for the presidency that Rajapaksa won by 17 percentage points, according to official results.

Even as those votes were counted on Jan. 26, hundreds of government troops surrounded a Colombo hotel where Fonseka and other opposition leaders had gathered to await the results in a show of force that foreshadowed Monday’s arrest.

Officials have repeatedly accused Fonseka of plotting to kill Rajapaksa and overthrow the government with the help of army deserters and former military officers since the election. Fonseka has called the allegations fabricated and vowed to push on with his political career. A number of serving officers, which the government said were considered to be a threat to national security, have been fired.

Fonseka’s arrest leaves a mix of opposition parties — from ultranationalist Sinhalese Marxists to former Tamil separatists — in a difficult spot, ahead of the upcoming general elections.

Government minister Keheliya Rambukwella says Fonseka will be tried in a military court on charges of conspiring against the president and planning a coup while army chief.

“When he was the army commander and chief of defense staff and member of the security council, he had direct contact with opposition political parties, which under the military law can amount to conspiracy,” Rambukwella said.

“He’s been plotting against the president while in the military … with the idea of overthrowing the government,” he added.

Mano Ganeshan, an opposition lawmaker, said Fonseka was “arrested and forcibly carried away” while having a discussion with a group of political allies.

Hakeem said Fonseka objected to being arrested by military police instead of civilian officers, since he was no longer in the military.

The officers dragged Fonseka and his secretary by their hands and legs into their vehicles, Hakeem said.

“He was humiliated and disgraced in the way he was handled. We were just flabbergasted,” he said.

Since the Jan. 26 election, Fonseka has complained that the government was attempting to arrest him on trumped up charges. Last week, security forces raided his office and arrested at least 15 of his staff.

“We have to ask why now? Why not six months ago when he was a military officer,” asked Jehan Perera, an analyst with independent activist group, National Peace Council.

“One has to think that it is politically motivated,” Perera said adding that there is a suspicion that the motive may have been to stop him challenging the results of the presidential election or to prevent Fonseka from leading the opposition in the upcoming parliamentary election.

Fonseka has vowed to contest that vote, due by April. The unofficial campaign season is already well under way.

The opposition has rejected the results of the presidential election, accusing the government of stealing more than 1 million of Fonseka’s votes during the tallying process, and said it will challenge them in court.

It has also accused the government of a campaign of threats, intimidation and illegal imprisonment of its supporters and activists.

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Associated Press reporter Fisnik Abrashi contributed to this report.