Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe arrested and investigated for misuse of public funds

The former president of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested this Friday during an investigation against him for misuse of public funds in relation to the costs of a trip to the United Kingdom made when he was head of state.

Wickremesinghe is in custody and will have to testify to security forces in relation to said visit to London, which took place in September 2023, when he attended the graduation ceremony of his wife, Maithree, at the University of Wolverhampton.

The now former president had stopped there during his return from Havana, the capital of Cuba, where he attended the G77 summit. Since then, the former president has justified the trip by pointing out that the expenses for that leg of the trip were covered by his wife.

However, investigations suggest that he could have spent 17 million rupees (about 48,300 euros) on that trip, according to information from the newspaper 'Daily News'. Wickremesinghe has thus become the first Sri Lankan president to be arrested.