The Fort Magistrate’s Court today (26) ordered the release of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was remanded on charges of misappropriation of public funds, on three surety bails of Rs. 5 000,000 each.
However, the former President, who is receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit of the Colombo National Hospital, did not attend the hearing today on medical advice and joined via Zoom.
Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested by the CID last Friday on charges of misappropriating public funds by going to England and attending his wife’s graduation ceremony while returning from an official foreign trip during his presidency.
Later, the Fort Magistrate’s Court remanded him in custody until today.
However, the former President was admitted to the Colombo National Hospital due to an emergency condition and is currently receiving treatment in its Intensive Care Unit.
In such a backdrop, the legal proceedings relating to former President Ranil Wickremesinghe were reconvened before the Fort Magistrate’s Court today.
Even before the commencement of the trial, it was observed that tight security had been deployed around the court premises by the police and the Police Special Task Force since the morning.
Accordingly, the legal proceedings relating to the former President commenced at 1.40 p.m. today.
Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is undergoing treatment at the Colombo National Hospital, was involved in the legal proceedings via Zoom.
Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris, who appeared before the court, presented a further report.
“Your Honor, in the last case, the court ordered an investigation into the invitation letter sent by the suspect from the University of Wolverhampton. We investigated it. But the said letter is not in the file of the Sri Lankan High Commission in London for the year 2023. Also, the said letter cannot be found in the files of the British High Commission in Sri Lanka or the Presidential Secretariat. In addition, the President’s Private Secretary, Sandra Perera, and the President’s Secretary, Saman Ekanayake, are not aware of the said letter. The documentary evidence regarding this visit is contradictory. At one point it is said to be a private visit, then a visit, then again an official visit. If the suspect claims this is a private visit, why does he not stand by that position? This trip did not start with the said invitation letter. Before that, they had sent a letter to the Sri Lankan High Commission in London saying they were coming on a private visit.”
The Additional Solicitor General also provided further information regarding the expenses of the former President’s questionable trip.
“Your Honor, the previous trip to Cuba, which was an official state trip, cost only Rs. 5 million. However, Rs. 1.66 million was spent on this private trip. I was wrong last week when I said that this incident was a misuse of public funds. No, that is not true. This is an embezzlement of public funds.”
The Additional Solicitor General then stated that he was strongly opposed to granting bail to the suspect.
“In order for this suspect to be granted bail, extraordinary and special facts beyond those presented the previous day must be presented. Your Honor, at this moment the suspect is at the National Hospital. Politicians are going to visit the suspect as if they are relatives. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa came to see the suspect and said that he is in good health. So, Your Honor, in order to obtain bail for this suspect, the defense lawyers must present not only extraordinary facts, but extraordinary facts that are truly extraordinary. If they do not present them, I request that the suspect be remanded until the end of the trial.”
Then, President’s Counsel Tilak Marapana presented his arguments on behalf of the suspect, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
“Your Honor, I would like to say first that the filing of this case is a stupid thing. Because the former President was invited to this event by Lord Swaraj Paul. So, former President Ranil Wickremesinghe attended the event to celebrate 25 years since he became Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton as an invitee. That is where the graduation ceremony took place. So, participating in such an event and creating a discussion about our country is not a misuse of public funds. Your Honor, comparing the expenditure of Cuba and the expenditure of England as you say is ridiculous. There is no such fact in the report issued by the National Audit Office for the year in question. No such fact was revealed in COPA either. In such a situation, an officer of the Presidential Secretariat has no authority to conduct such an audit. My client is 76 years old. If your court does not grant bail today, he can go to the higher courts next. When all those cases are concluded, it will take at least 15 years. Will he be kept on remand until then? I don’t think he will live that long.”
Later, President’s Counsel Anuja Premaratne presented specific facts to obtain bail for suspect Ranil Wickremesinghe under the Public Property Act.
“Sir, I would like to explain the current health condition of my client. He has necrosis of heart tissue. Three out of four major arteries of the heart are blocked. Surgery cannot be performed because it is close to the heart. He has chronic kidney disease. He has a condition of sleep apnea. He sometimes has 2–3 minutes of apnea. This condition can be understood by the sound of snoring. It takes an experienced person to identify it. His wife has been trained accordingly. Due to this condition, he is connected to a CPAP machine while sleeping. If this is not done, the heart can even stop. He has a lung infection. Low sodium in the body. High blood pressure and dizziness. There is a possibility of sudden heart attack. An infection in the upper part of the pancreas. Due to all these diseases, the body’s immunity has decreased. Sir, in short, he has all the diseases that he should have. My client Ranil Wickremesinghe is in grave danger to his life. Therefore, considering the circumstances as exceptional, I request that he be released on bail.”
However, the Additional Solicitor General responded to the submissions of the defense lawyers as follows:
“Your Honor, as they say, this suspect has ninety-nine illnesses. If that is the case, how come he is meeting so many politicians? If that is the case, they also asked to go to India in the last case. My learned friend himself says that his client does not take illnesses into account. Then why does Anuja take them into account? Moreover, we only came to know about his illness when he was remanded. The majority of these medical reports were obtained yesterday, and from private hospitals. How can the court accept these? Moreover, it was not said that these illnesses cannot be treated at the National Hospital. Therefore, I request that a formal report be called from the Judicial Medical Officers. No special facts have been presented today other than those presented in the last case. The only difference is that the lawyers have changed. Therefore, I request the court to reject bail and further remand him.”
After considering all the facts, Fort Magistrate Ms. Nilupuli Lankapura announced her order.
“Today, the court has to give an extension of the order issued on August 22. On that day, only a letter from a doctor was presented regarding the medical conditions of the suspect, which contained specific statements about him. However, today, the defense lawyers have presented medical reports obtained from a foreign hospital in 2016 and 2017, and medical reports obtained recently from a private hospital. In addition, a medical report has been submitted to the court by a team of six specialist doctors from the National Hospital. The court cannot consider the authenticity of these medical reports at this time and the court believes that the doctors have issued them responsibly. Accordingly, the court concludes that the suspect’s current medical condition should be closely monitored by doctors.”
