Word: rajapaksa
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Former army chief Sarath Fonseka stood before a court-martial March 16 on what he called a "bogus" charge of engaging in politics while in uniform. Fonseka, arrested after losing a January election to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, says the detention is intended to prevent him from winning a seat in April's parliamentary elections. The two former allies are credited with ending the nation's civil war with the Tamil Tigers...
...brought him victory over Tamil separatists in the country's 26-year civil war deserted him in politics. By standing in January's presidential election as the head of a motley coalition that included Marxists, Muslims and vanquished Tamils, Fonseka intended to offer a legitimate challenge to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. All Fonseka did was outrage him. Now, the former general has been arrested on unspecified charges of conspiring against the government. Rajapaksa's administration is often accused of alleged abuses (including extrajudicial killings of Tamils and journalists), but he was easily re-elected on a wave of postwar euphoria...
Some 2,500 supporters of Sarath Fonseka took to the streets to protest the retired general's arrest on Feb. 8 for "committing military offenses." Fonseka had challenged President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a Jan. 26 election, the country's first since the end of a 26-year civil war last May. Former allies, the two quickly became foes, with Fonseka alleging election fraud and claiming that his life was threatened following Rajapaksa's victory. Fonseka is set to be court-martialed at a later date...
...Trouble was in the air. Another group was mingling near the statue of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, holding posters of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The opposition had scheduled a protest near the statue - the first of many, according to organizers - demanding the release of Fonseka. Police, some in riot gear and with water cannons at the ready, stationed themselves between the two groups to prevent a clash. (See a two-minute bio of Sarath Fonseka...
...Court challenging his arrest and seeking a decision declaring the poll null and void, Tissa Attanayake, the general secretary of the United National Party said. The opposition has already raised objections to the elections commissioner over vote rigging, but commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake has since declared the elections, which President Rajapaksa won by a majority of 1.8 million votes, as fair...