Sri Lanka ex-first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa arrested over hospital donations
Sri Lanka's anti-corruption authorities arrested Shiranthi Rajapaksa, 73, wife of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, on 7 October over alleged misuse of charity donations meant for a children's hospital.
Key facts
- Anti-corruption authorities arrested Shiranthi Rajapaksa, 73, at her Colombo home on Wednesday, 7 October, the BBC reported.
- She is being questioned over 10 million rupees ($30,300; £22,800) collected by the Siriliya Saviya charity, which is linked to her.
- The money was meant for a scanner for Colombo's Lady Ridgeway Children's Hospital; officials say China had already donated such a scanner.
- Rajapaksa denies wrongdoing; Mahinda Rajapaksa's spokesperson Manoj Gamage said the money is safe and no fraud occurred.
- She filed a court petition against the arrest; the hearing is set for 12 October.
Sri Lanka's anti-corruption authorities arrested Shiranthi Rajapaksa, 73, at the Colombo home she shares with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday, 7 October, according to the BBC. She is the wife of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who served as president from 2005 to 2015. Authorities are questioning her over 10 million rupees ($30,300; £22,800) in donations collected by the Siriliya Saviya charity, which the BBC describes as linked to her.
The BBC reported that the donations were meant to be spent on a specialised scanner for Colombo's Lady Ridgeway Children's Hospital. Officials say such a scanner had already been donated by the Chinese government. Rajapaksa denies any wrongdoing and says the money has not been appropriated. A spokesperson for Mahinda Rajapaksa, Manoj Gamage, said the money is safe in Siriliya's accounts and that no fraud has occurred.
Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka on Monday from Singapore, where she had been receiving medical treatment, the BBC reported. She had filed a court petition to try to prevent her arrest. The hearing was set for 12 October.
The BBC reported that Sri Lanka's government under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has revived long-stalled corruption investigations involving members of the Rajapaksa family. Namal Rajapaksa, the eldest son of Mahinda and Shiranthi, was arrested earlier this year over allegations linked to an aircraft procurement deal made during his father's presidency. He is held in remand, meaning custody while awaiting trial. His brother Yoshitha was also arrested earlier this year on corruption charges.
Context
Mahinda Rajapaksa was president from 2005 to 2015, and the BBC reported that his family held a tight grip on Sri Lanka's politics for years. The BBC reported that many hailed him as a hero for bringing an end to nearly three decades of civil war, in which Tamil Tiger rebels were defeated in 2009. In 2022, protests broke out as inflation surged and the country ran out of fuel, food and medicine, and his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa, then president, was toppled.
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