COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's former president Ranil Wickremesinghe was granted bail on Tuesday, four days after his arrest on the charge of misusing state funds for an overseas visit. The ex-leader, 76, was arrested on Friday, accused of spending $55,000 in government funds on a 2023 stopover in Britain while returning from attending the G77 summit in Havana and the UN General Assembly in New York.
The Colombo Fort Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura ordered Wickremesinghe's release on a five-million-rupee ($16,600) bond after a lengthy hearing held under tight security, including elite troops. A few hundred protesters had gathered outside the court earlier in the day in support of Wickremesinghe, and were met by riot police who held back the crowd.
After being remanded in custody on Friday, the former leader was rushed to a prison hospital and then the country's main state-run hospital, suffering from dehydration, but hospital officials said his condition was stable. Wickremesinghe joined Tuesday's bail hearing via video link from his bed at the National Hospital of Colombo, where he is being treated under armed guard. — AFP
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