Sri Lanka’s anti-corruption body arrested ex-first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa on Wednesday over allegations that her charity misused donations collected for a children’s hospital.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government has revived long-dormant graft investigations involving members of the once-powerful Rajapaksa family, which dominated Sri Lankan politics for nearly two decades.
The 73-year-old wife of former president Mahinda was remanded in custody until Tuesday by a Colombo magistrate.
She was arrested earlier in the day by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) which questioned her for nearly seven hours.
“The magistrate ordered her to be held in custody till October 13 and to admit her to the prison hospital because of an eye condition,” a court official told reporters outside the Colombo Magistrate’s Court.
In another development, a Rajapaksa-era foreign minister, Rohitha Bogollagama, was also arrested Wednesday for corruption.
The Colombo High Court ordered the 72-year-old Bogollagama to be held in custody till the end of a trial against him for misusing state funds in 2006 when he was minister of investment promotion.
The former first lady was arrested in connection with an investigation into her Siriliya Saviya Foundation, which had raised money to buy equipment for hospitals, including a children’s cancer facility.
Her lawyer, Manoj Gamage, told reporters that she denied the allegations made against her and will contest the charges of misappropriating donations raised for charity.
The CIABOC also arrested the former head of a state-owned bank after accusing him of giving 10 million rupees ($30,000) to her charity, the agency said.
Pradeep Kariyawasam, the then-chairman of the National Savings Bank was released on bail.
- Family under siege -
Ms Shiranthi Rajapaksa travelled to Singapore on September 16 for medical treatment, and was served with a summons at Colombo airport to provide a statement to police about her charity.
She flew back on Monday after filing a court petition seeking to prevent her arrest, but the hearing for anticipatory bail was fixed for October 12.
Police said the authorities wanted to question Ms Shiranthi Rajapaksa over the donations collected by her charity for a scanner intended for a cancer hospital for children.
Investigators told a court that the scanner had already been donated by the Chinese government, but the charity allegedly continued to solicit donations and misused the funds.
Ms Shiranthi Rajapaksa has denied any wrongdoing, saying the money had not been misappropriated.
Other members of the family have also faced legal troubles.
The former first lady’s eldest son, opposition lawmaker Namal Rajapaksa, is in remand custody over allegations linked to a 2013 Airbus aircraft deal signed during his father’s presidency.
The Rajapaksa family has consistently denied the corruption allegations and dismissed the cases against them as politically motivated.
Mahinda Rajapaksa served as president from 2005 to 2015 and remains one of Sri Lanka’s most influential political figures, despite the decline in the family’s fortunes since mass protests ousted his brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, from the presidency in 2022. AFP
