Sri Lanka’s former president Ranil Wickremesinghe was admitted to hospital on Saturday, a day after he was charged with misusing public funds to pay for private international travel.
The 76-year-old, who was remanded in custody on Friday, is accused of using state money to cover expenses for a two-day trip to the United Kingdom in September 2023. The visit was to attend a ceremony at the University of Wolverhampton, where his wife was awarded an honorary professorship.
Wickremesinghe has denied any wrongdoing, insisting that his wife bore her own travel costs. The visit took place after his return from the G77 summit in Havana and the United Nations general assembly in New York.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of 16.6m rupees (£41,000).
Hospital officials said Wickremesinghe was in a stable condition after being brought to Colombo National Hospital. Rukshan Bellana, the hospital’s deputy head, told AFP that he was suffering from acute dehydration. “He was a severe diabetic with high blood pressure when he was brought in,” Bellana said.
Wickremesinghe assumed the presidency in July 2022, following the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa after mass protests over Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence. Long viewed as a political ally of the Rajapaksa family, he was deeply unpopular with demonstrators at the time.
A veteran of Sri Lankan politics, Wickremesinghe had served as prime minister six times since 1977 but never completed a term. He was defeated in last September’s presidential election by Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party.
Dissanayake, whose party is attempting to shed its reputation for past violence, campaigned on promises to root out corruption and curb abuses of power, marking a significant shift in the country’s political landscape.
