Sri Lanka’s ex-President shifted to prison hospital following arrest

Sri Lanka’s former president Ranil Wickremesinghe has been shifted to a prison hospital after a court refused him bail following his arrest over the alleged misuse of state funds during his tenure.

Wickremesinghe, 76, was taken to the main Magazine Remand Prison close to midnight on Friday after the Colombo Fort magistrate’s court remanded him until August 26. He was admitted to the prison hospital as his blood sugar and blood pressure levels were found to be high, prison spokesman Jagath Weerasinghe said on Saturday.

The former president was arrested at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Friday, where he had been summoned to record a statement in connection with an investigation into the alleged misuse of government funds amounting to 16.6 million Sri Lankan rupees.

Wickremesinghe, who served as president from 2022 to 2024, has been accused of using state funds to travel to England in September 2023 to attend the convocation ceremony of his wife, Professor Maithree.

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