Lanka to free former army chief: official

AFP/Colombo

Sarath Fonseka

Sri Lanka’s president yesterday secured cabinet approval to free jailed former army chief and defeated opposition presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka, a senior official said. President Mahinda Rajapakse’s spokesman said he “got approval from the cabinet of ministers to release” the former four-star general, but did not give further details. Fonseka’s wife Anoma said earlier she met the president on Wednesday night and he assured her husband would be freed as soon as possible. “I was promised that my husband will be cleared of all charges and released unconditionally,” she said. An official from the attorney general’s department said they were trying to iron out legal snags that would allow Fonseka to be released on a presidential pardon. The official said Fonseka, who unsuccessfully challenged Rajapakse in January 2010 elections, could be released “within days”. Fonseka fell out with the government over who should take credit for winning the separatist war against the Tamil Tiger rebels in May 2009. He challenged Rajapakse after quitting the army. Two weeks after his election defeat, Fonseka was detained on a charge of corruption relating to military procurements. He was given a 30-month jail sentence in September 2010. He is due to go before a Colombo judge today in connection with another case in which he is charged with harbouring military deserters as his body guards after he quit the army. Earlier Wednesday, Rajapakse met members of Fonseka’s Democratic National Alliance (DNA) party to discuss the terms of his release, DNA legislator Tiran Alles told reporters. The moves come ahead of talks later this week between Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister G. L Peiris and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington. The United States has been critical of Sri Lanka’s rights record during the final stages of the civil war, which ended with victory for government forces in May 2009. Washington has repeatedly urged Colombo to release Fonseka. In November, Fonseka was sentenced to three more years in jail for saying Tiger rebels who surrendered had been killed on the orders of the president’s brother Gotabhaya Rajapakse, who is defence secretary. Fonseka has also angered the government by saying he would testify before any international tribunal probing possible war crimes charges after the United Nations said thousands of civilians were killed in the last months of fighting. Former General Sarath Fonseka is revered as a hero by many for helping end the 25-year civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.Fonseka leads the Democratic National Alliance, which has seven seats in a 225-member legislature, and some legislators from other opposition parties have said they are ready to back him due to his popularity and outspoken criticism against Rajapakse.He trailed Rajapaksa by 17 points in the last presidential election and with the next one not due until 2016, he is not seen as an immediate political threat. His health has also deteriorated in prison, increasing pressure on Rajapakse to release him.Economic woes pushing up the cost of living have dented the government’s popularity ahead of local elections this year, and some analysts see Rajapakse’s decision to release his rival as a move to increase his party’s chances by dividing the already bickering opposition.Fonseka is being treated in hospital for respiratory problems stemming from a 2006 assassination attempt by a Tamil Tiger rebel suicide bomber.Fonseka and the president’s brother, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse, led the army to victory in the final stages of the war, but they fell out after the war ended. The general complained he was sidelined by the president, who grew concerned Fonseka was plotting a coup.The career infantry officer was prosecuted for an interview he gave to the Sunday Leader newspaper in December 2009 in which he said he was informed that Gotabaya Rajapakse ordered troops to kill surrendering rebel leaders.Rights groups say both the former army chief and the president are implicated in shooting fighters as they sought to surrender. In recent months, rights workers and journalists have been targeted by a government media campaign against “traitors” it says helped the defeated guerrillas.