Ex-Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe arrested

August 22, 2025

Former Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested on Friday amid allegations that he misused government funds. The case centers on travel during a private leg of his visits, raising questions about whether state resources were used for personal purposes.

In 2023, Wickremesinghe paused in London while returning from Havana, where he had attended a G77 summit. During that stop, he and his wife, Maithree Wickremesinghe, reportedly attended a University of Wolverhampton ceremony. The former president has consistently maintained that Maithree paid her own travel expenses and that no public funds were involved in their trip, insisting that his wife bore the costs privately.

Contrasting these claims, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has alleged that government money was used for Wickremesinghe’s travel on a private visit and that the state also covered the expenses associated with his security detail. The CID summoned Wickremesinghe to give a statement on Friday morning, after which an arrest followed as part of the ongoing investigation. The development marks a startling turn in a political career that has been closely watched since his ascent to the presidency.

Wickremesinghe assumed the presidency in July 2022 to complete Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term after Rajapaksa resigned amid months of public protests over perceived corruption and economic mismanagement. Proponents credit him with stabilizing the country’s economy during Sri Lanka’s devastating financial crisis, which peaked in 2022. His tenure, however, faced persistent scrutiny from opposition factions and parts of the public demanding accountability for governance practices.

In a closely contested political landscape, Wickremesinghe narrowly lost his bid for re-election to the left-wing candidate AK Disannayake in September of the previous year, with the race extending into a second round. The arrest adds a new chapter to the evolving narrative surrounding Sri Lanka’s leadership, governance, and ongoing debates over fiscal responsibility and transparency in public office. Further developments are awaited as investigators continue to probe the factual basis and circumstances of the alleged fund misappropriations.