Hello and welcome to the details of Sri Lanka arrests ex-president Wickremesinghe over alleged misuse of state funds for London trip to wife’s graduation and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Sri Lanka’s former president Ranil Wickremesinghe (left) gestures as he arrives to appear before a court after his arrest in Colombo August 22, 2025. Sri Lankan police arrested former president Wickremesinghe today, making him the most senior opposition figure to be detained under an anti-corruption crackdown by the new leftist government. — AFP pic
- Wickremesinghe arrested over alleged misuse of state funds
- Arrest linked to London trip for wife’s graduation
- Wickremesinghe was PM a record six times, made president in 2022
COLOMBO, Aug 22 — Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department today in connection with allegations of misuse of state funds, local television channel Ada Derana reported.
Wickremesinghe, 76, was taken into custody after arriving at the CID office in the capital Colombo to record a statement in an investigation into his visit to London to attend his wife’s graduation ceremony, the report said.
A Sri Lankan police spokesperson did not immediately confirm the arrest. Wickremesinghe’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
He was due to appear in court later today, local media reported.
A lawyer who served as Sri Lanka’s prime minister a record six times, Wickremesinghe was made president in 2022 during the Indian Ocean island nation’s debilitating financial crisis.
Wickremesinghe, who is the leader of the United National Party (UNP), took over after widespread protests caused by a economic meltdown forced his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and later resign.
He finished third in last year’s presidential election — the first since the economic crisis — behind Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who won the vote, and opposition leader Sajith Premadasa.
The election was a referendum on Wickremesinghe, who led a successful but fragile economic recovery that included austerity measures that angered voters.
Born into a prominent family of politicians and businessmen with large media interests, in 1978 Wickremesinghe was, at 29, made the country’s youngest cabinet minister by his uncle, President Junius Jayewardene.
In 1994, following assassinations that wiped out several of his senior colleagues, Wickremesinghe became leader of the UNP. — Reuters
These were the details of the news Sri Lanka arrests ex-president Wickremesinghe over alleged misuse of state funds for London trip to wife’s graduation for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
