Sri Lanka's former first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa arrested in charity graft probe

Sri Lanka’s anti-corruption authority arrested former first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa on Wednesday over allegations that her charity misused donations raised for a children’s hospital, in a case that strikes at the once-powerful Rajapaksa family (Dawn).

The 73-year-old wife of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa was arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) after nearly seven hours of questioning. A Colombo magistrate remanded her in custody until Tuesday, 13 October, and ordered her admitted to the prison hospital because of an eye condition, a court official told reporters (Dawn).

According to CIABOC, Rs. 10 million had been obtained from the National Savings Bank through Rajapaksa’s Siriliya Saviya organisation to buy a CT scanner for the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children. The commission alleges the scanner was never provided and the public funds were dishonestly misappropriated, and she faces corruption charges and offences under the Public Property Act (Newswire). She was arrested at around 9.56 a.m. at a residence in Poorwarama, Kirulapone (Newswire).

Rajapaksa had returned from Singapore on Monday after medical treatment, and her lawyers had filed for anticipatory bail the same morning she was arrested (ETV Bharat). Her lawyer, Manoj Gamage, said she denied the allegations and would contest the charges (Dawn).

In a separate development the same day, Rajapaksa-era foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama, 72, was also arrested for corruption. The Colombo High Court ordered him held in custody until the end of a trial over misusing state funds in 2006 when he was minister of investment promotion (Dawn).