THE nation’s anti-graft authority has arrested former first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa over allegations that her charity misused donations collected for a children’s hospital, dealing a major blow to the once powerful family.
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 Rajapaksa 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 Oct 13 and admit her to the prison hospital because of an eye condition,” a court official told reporters outside Colombo’s Magistrate’s Court.
In another development, a Rajapaksa-era foreign minister, Rohitha Bogollagama, was also arrested on Wednesday for corruption.
The Colombo High Court ordered the 72-year-old 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 she denied the allegations made against her and will contest the charges of misappropriating donations raised for charity. — AFP
