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Fonseka arrested for plotting against government

The arrest of the main opposition candidate at the recent presidential elections, General (retd) Sarath Fonseka, has drawn protests and condemnation from opposition parties in Sri Lanka, while the government claims it is now a natter for the courts.

Fonseka was arrested in a spectacular swoop on his political office by military police on the night of Monday 8 February.

The arrest as he was in discussion with political allies on challenging the presidential poll results and on campaign tactics for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The retired General, who led the military onslaught against the Liberation Tigers between 2005 and 2010, had earlier in the day claimed that he was prepared to testify against anyone on war crimes in front of an international court.

The government has charged Fonseka with plotting, while he was in the military, to overthrow the incumbent regime.

The Military Police also charged him with conspiracy to assassinate President Rajapakse and making political moves while in military uniform.

Legal experts predict that the Sri Lankan military courts may attempt to pass a life sentence on Fonseka.

He was allegedly charged with attempting to topple the government by joining the opposition parties while serving in the post of Military General and Joint Forces Commanding Chief, attempting to divide the military, and for granting shelter to army deserters.

However, analysts speculate that the arrest may have had more to do with Fonseka’s threats to assist prosecutions of war-crimes charges against senior members of the military and the Rajapakse family.

“I am not going to save anyone who has committed war crimes. I am definitely going to reveal what I know, what I was told and what I heard," Fonseka said, speaking to journalists on the morning of the day he was arrested.

“Any one who has committed war crimes should definitely be brought into courts,” he said, adding "Those who reveal the truth are not traitors.”

Fonseka had earlier alleged that two of the President’s brothers had been complicit in the killing of unarmed members of the Liberation Tigers who were surrendering – which is a war crime.

In an interview with The Sunday Leader newspaper Fonseka had implicated Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapakse and Presidential advisor Basil Rajapakse in the incident in May 2009 when the LTTE political wing chief, B Nadesan, his deputy S Pulidevan and the LTTE police chief, Ramesh were killed with their families.

When the military police burst into his office, Fonseka was allegedly in a meeting with the leaders of Tamil and Muslim parties that had supported his presidential challenge.

Press reports said he was meeting Rauf Hakeem, the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and Mano Ganesan, the leader of the Democratic People’s Front (DPF) at their Colombo campaign headquarters to discuss challenging the results of the presidential poll. Other reports suggested that Somawanse Amarasinghe, the leader of the Sinhala nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was also present.

The Sri Lankan media reported that Fonseka resisted arrest, and as a result was dragged away.

Reports said that Major-General Sumith Manawadu had stormed in with a group of military policemen and ordered them to arrest the general and his aide Senaka da Silva.

"They stormed into the conference room while the meeting was going on and assaulted Mano Ganesan, he [Major-General Manawadu] punched him and then a dozen army people walked in,” Mr Samaraweera told the Daily Telegraph.

“General Fonseka said 'this must be done by the police', at which point Manawadu punched Fonseka. The other armed fellows pinned him to the ground and dragged him by the legs. They carried him down the stairs and bundled him into a van along with his secretary. He was also assaulted," Mr Samaraweera said.

"He is retired, the military police can't arrest him, it must be under civil law. Until 2am General Fonseka's wife had no idea of his whereabouts, and we still don't know anything. You can't be assaulted and bundled into a car without a warrant," he added.

Those present at the meeting condemned the manner of the arrest and described it as disgraceful.

“He was dragged away in a very disgraceful manner in front of our own eyes,” Rauff Hakeem told Reuters. Mano Ganesan claimed he was “dragged away like a dog”.

“There was no decorum. To call it an arrest gives dignity and legality to what was a brutal abduction. He was beaten, dragged along the floor and bundled into a van," said opposition politician and Fonseka’s campaign spokesperson Mangala Samaraweera.

Fonseka was taken to Navy Headquarters where he still remains without being charged while evidence is being put together in preparation for a General Court Martial.

Fonseka’s wife Anoma gave a tearful statement to international media the day after his arrest, pleading for his release.

"This is not an arrest. It is an abduction," a tearful Anoma Fonseka told a news conference at her home in Colombo.

Mrs Fonseka complained that her 59-year-old husband had been "dragged out and treated like an animal" by the soldiers after he objected to being arrested by military rather than civilian police.

"We always knew that the Government will try to arrest my husband, but we never thought they would do it in such a disgusting manner," she said through sobs.

Mrs Foneska was later forced to give a statement to police investigators, who raided her home at midnight and questioned her until 2am, press reports said.

In a joint statement the main parliamentary opposition said they are in fear for his life while he is in detention and called for protests over the arrest.

"We will take this matter to courts, we will take it before the people and we will take it before the international community," said Rauf Hakeem.

Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, also leader of the main opposition party United National Party (UNP), alleged that the time taken to file charges is used by the government to fabricate evidence.

Mrs Fonseka has been a rallying point to the fractured opposition coalition, with press reports indicating that she will be spearheading his parliamentary election campaign unless he is released from detention.

Analysts say that he will contest the election with a new coalition, the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) which was formed in an alliance with the JVP and various other parties.

The government denied all claims that Fonseka was being ill-treated or denied access to his family or lawyers.

“Family members are allowed to see him and he has been allowed to obtain legal advice also,” said Major General Prasad Samarasinghe, a military spokesman, adding that the former army commander was not even in a cell.

President Rajapakse also defended the arrest.

Only after going through all the evidence was the Army given the green light to do what they wanted,” he told The Hindu.

“This is an enquiry [under military law] to see if there is a prima facie case against Fonseka. I don’t want to get involved in the judicial process,” he said.

“One thing is that I am a lawyer myself, so I always respect the law. I never say anything against the courts, against the judges,” the President added in defense of the move against Fonseka.

Fonseka is boycotting all proceedings according to a statement by his attorney Mr. Wijedasa Rajapakse (no relation to the President) to The Sunday Times.

The Sri Lankan Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to Fonseka's arrest.

"The court granted leave to proceed with the case because it appeared, on the face of it, there had been a breach of fundamental rights of Gen Fonseka," a court official told Agence France-Presse news agency.

The court is expected to reconvene on 23 February to hear evidence.

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