[JURIST] Sri Lankan military police on Monday arrested defeated opposition presidential candidate and former general Sarath Fonseka. The Sri Lankan Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) announced that Fonseka was arrested “in connection with certain fraudulent acts and other military offences.” Fonseka, who orchestrated the successful military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May, unsuccessfully attempted to turn the military campaign to political advantage in January’s presidential elections.
Last week 37 people, most of them military officers, were arrested in connection to an alleged assassination attempt against current President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Sri Lankan Supreme Court ruled last Tuesday that Rajapaksa’s second term will begin in November. The apparent victor in January’s elections, Rajapaksa defeated Fonseka by an official margin of 18 points, winning re-election to a second term in office. Fonseka has disputed the results, however, saying violence and vote-counting irregularities invalidated the outcome.