The former army commander General Sarath Fonseka has been acquitted of harbouring army deserters, by the high court in Colombo.
Judge Devika Tennakon de Livera said the prosecution had failed to prove the case, which was brought by the government after Mr Fonseka’s failed electoral challenge to former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, without reasonable doubt.
Meanwhile media in Sri Lanka reported the general is due to be promoted to the rank of field marshal, the highest rank in the Sri Lankan army.
President Maithripala Sirisena is likely to grant him the rank during a ceremony on March 22, in “appreciation of the duties discharged by General Fonseka” in the war against the Liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Daily News reported.
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