Sri Lankan police raid office of defeated presidential candidate
Fifteen staff arrested in raid for army deserters at office of Sarath Fonseka, who lost disputed election this week
Police raided the office of Sri Lanka’s defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka today and arrested 15 staff, his lawyer said.
Commandos raided the office in the capital, Colombo, saying they were looking for army deserters, said Mano Ganeshan, an opposition politician. A government spokesman confirmed the raid but did not give details.
Fonseka was at his house elsewhere in Colombo at the time of the raid, Ganeshan said. Fifteen former military personnel who worked at the office were detained, said Shiral Laktilaka, Fonseka’s lawyer.
Fonseka led the government’s military offensive that defeated the Tamil Tigers in May, ending a 25-year separatist rebellion. He then resigned as army chief and joined the political opposition.
He plans to challenge the election result in court and yesterday alleged that the government had stolen more than 1m of his votes during the counting process.
The government has denied the allegation and in turn accused Fonseka of planning a coup and of being involved in an alleged plot to kill the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Following his defeat in Tuesday’s poll, Fonseka said the government had arrested some of his associates and removed his 80-strong state-provided security force, a move he said had put his life in danger. He claimed authorities had put his name on a list of people who cannot leave the country, a charge also denied by the government.
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