Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka was released from the Welikada
prison a short while ago after being granted a Presidential pardon.
The
Supreme Court today (May 21) allowed the withdrawal of two pending
appeals by Sarath Fonseka’s counsel. Court has granted approval for the
withdrawal of the appeal on the ‘white flag’ case and the special appeal
challenging the verdict of the second Court Martial.
Fonseka, who was discharged from hospital today morning, was presented before the Supreme Court a short while ago.
The
attorneys appearing on behalf of the former army chief had stated that
the President has pardoned the petitioner, according to provisions of
the constitution and that therefore he does not wish to continue with
the petitions.
He was taken from the Supreme Court to the
Welikada Prison where he was thereafter released while a large crowd had
gathered outside the prison to greet the former Army Commander.
Former
Army Commander Sarath Fonseka, who led the Sri Lankan army to victory
against the LTTE, was in detention since February 2010 following his
unsuccessful bid at the Presidential election earlier that year in which
Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected to his second term.
In September
2010, a court martial sentenced him to 30 months imprisonment for
corruption related to irregularities in military procurements during his
time as army chief. He also lost the parliamentary seat he won in the
April 2010 polls.
An earlier court martial also found him guilty
of interfering in politics while in uniform and stripped him of his rank
and pension.
Fonseka was arrested and convicted by both military
and civil courts and stripped off all military ranks as of August 2010
while the US State Department named him a political prisoner in its 2010
Human Rights report.
Sarath Fonseka was then found guilty by a
divided decision in the case regarding the ‘White Flag’ statement and
sentenced to three years in prison by the Colombo High Court on November
18, 2011.
The verdict was divided 2:1 and was given by the High
Court bench headed by Judge Deepali Wijesundara and comprising Judges
DMPD Waraweva and Zulfiqar Razin.
Justice Waraweva giving his
judgment deliberated that Fonseka was not guilty on all three charges
while Justice Wijesundara and Rashim found Fonseka guilty of the first
charge and found him not guilty on the second and third charges.
He
was accused of inciting violence following an interview given to the
Sunday Leader, alleging that Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave
an illegal order not to accommodate any LTTE cadres attempting to
surrender with white flags during the closing stages of the war and that
troops had shot dead a number of Tamil Tiger separatist leaders when
they tried to surrender.
However, Fonseka maintained that that
the published comments had misquoted him adding that the journalist
Fredrica Janz had distorted a reply that he had given to a question that
she had put forward in her own words in order to build this story.
Sarath Fonseka, who was at the time serving his 30-month jail term was sentenced to three years in prison and fined Rs.5,000.
Fonseka appealed the decision while the petition is to be taken up at the Supreme Court.
Sarath
Fonseka along with his son-in-law Danuna Tilakaratne and Director of
HiCorp Pvt. Ltd. Wellington De Hoedt were also accused of defrauding the
Army by purchasing military hardware going beyond the tender procedure.
Sarath
Fonseka was acquitted by the Colombo High Court of the charges brought
against him in the Hicorp fraud case citing that he could not be
sentenced twice for the same offence as the Court Martial had already
found him guilty of the charges.
Fonseka continued to serve his
three-year sentence amidst mass protests and pressure on the government
by the opposition parties and international powers to facilitate the
former army commander’s release.
Sarath Fonseka was granted
conditional bail on May 18 by the Colombo High Court in the case of
harbouring army deserters during the Presidential election.
The
State Attorney informed court that the government does not object to the
bail appeal by the former Army Commander, who was then ordered released
under a cash bail of Rs. 1 million and two personal bails of Rs. 2.5
million each.
The Colombo High Court also barred Sarath Fonseka
from leaving the country however stating that he would be required to
seek permission from the court in order to do so.
The President had made it known to the media and those
close to Fonseka that the country was at a juncture in which it would be in its
interest to release Fonseka while following separate meetings with Anoma
Fonseka and Tiran Alles, it was announced that Fonseka would be released.
The
President signed the necessary papers for Sarath Fonseka’s release on
May 18 and handed them over to the chief of Presidential staff before
leaving for Qatar that evening.
Presidential Spokesman Bandula
Jayasekara told Ada Derana that the release papers were scheduled to be
sent to the Ministry of Justice today (May 21).
Fonseka who was
receiving treatment at the Nawaloka hospital for an illness pertaining
to his lungs was discharged from hospital today after which he was taken
to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court allowed the withdrawal
of two pending appeals by Sarath Fonseka’s counsel. The Court granted
approval for the withdrawal of the appeal on the ‘white flag’ case and
the special appeal challenging the verdict of the second Court Martial.
Fonseka, who was taken back to the Welikada Prison was released shortly thereafter.
