Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe shifted to jail hospital following remand

Sri Lanka’s former President Ranil Wickremesinghe was shifted to a jail hospital after a court docket refused to grant him bail following his arrest over alleged misuse of state funds throughout his tenure.

Mr. Wickremesinghe, 76, was taken to the primary Magazine Remand jail near midnight on Friday (August 22, 2025) after the Colombo Fort Justice of the Peace’s court docket remanded him until August 26.

He was admitted to the jail hospital as his blood sugar and blood strain ranges had been excessive, jail spokesman Jagath Weerasinghe mentioned in Colombo on Saturday (August 23, 2025).

The former President was arrested on the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters on Friday (August 22, 2025), the place he was summoned to document an announcement in reference to an investigation into the alleged misuse of presidency funds amounting to Sri Lankan rupees 16.6 million.

The veteran Opposition chief was subsequently introduced earlier than the Colombo Fort Justice of the Peace’s court docket.

The CID charged him beneath Section 386 and 388 of the penal code and beneath Section 5(1) of the Public Properties Act. The fees carry a punishment of not lower than one yr however not exceeding 20 years in jail.

After a prolonged session which lasted over six hours, Magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura remanded him whereas ruling that the defence legal professionals had did not submit any particular issues that will have been potential for the court docket to grant bail to the previous president.

Mr. Wickremesinghe has been visited by a stream of former colleagues and rivals, together with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

“He was in good spirits and appeared regular. He understands being remanded is a part of politics and one’s destiny as a politician”, Rajapaksa, 80, instructed reporters.

The most important Opposition chief, Sajith Premadasa, one among Mr. Wickremesinghe’s strongest rivals, mentioned, “I visited him and spoke to him. He was nice”.

Prison officers mentioned Mr. Wickremesinghe’s request to have meals cooked at residence was allowed.

Mr Wickremesinghe, who served as President from 2022 to 2024, has been accused of utilizing state funds to journey to England to attend a convocation ceremony of his spouse, Prof Maithree, in September 2023.

It has been alleged that Mrc. Wickremesinghe was coming back from the U.S. after an official engagement and visited the UK on the state’s expense to attend the non-public engagement of his spouse.

The CID had beforehand questioned his workers in regards to the journey bills.

Mr. Wickremesinghe, who had changed Gotabaya Rajapaksa as President to serve the steadiness time period till the top of 2024, was credited with steering Sri Lanka out of the financial disaster of 2022.