Fonseka’s wife Anoma and lawyer meet the arrested General

Anoma Fonseka , the wife of the arrested General (Retired) Sarath Fonseka, and lawyer Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa met yesterday evening Sarath Fonseka at the Naval apartment where he is presently being confined.

On Monday late in the evening, General Fonseka was taken into custody and confined to an apartment in the Sri Lanka Navy Headquarters.

An Army source also told Asian Tribune that he is not in a cell, but kept in an apartment where all the basic facilities are available and nearly 15 aides from Navy as well as from the Army are available for him.

This was not the first time he was being questioned. He has been summoned several time for inquiries by the Army High Command and dealt summarily.

The Army sources said when he became the Commander of the Army, he has removed all the documents which gave details of the all those inquiries against him from his personal files.

Asian Tribune learns if an army officer or an ex-Army Officer was to be court martialed, it has to be the duty of the Army high command to record the’ summary of evidence’ from the accused.

It is learnt that Army is making arrangements to constitute a board to record the summary of evidence. It is learnt that it is the basic requirement to conduct the court martial.

To conduct the court martial a panel judges, may be three or else five has to be selected. This panel of judges can be from the serving army persons or else from the other services also – Navy or Air Force.

Furthermore the Judge Advocate General of the Army too will be one of the judges in the judges panel.

It is left to the Army Commander to appoint the panel of judges and also the Judge Advocate General – even though at present Major General Mohanthi Peris serves as the Judge Advocate General. It is up to the Army Commander to decide whether she will be allowed to function as one of the judge in her capacity as Judge of the Advocate General or else he can appoint a new person instead of the present Judge of the Advocate General.

In the meantime, Sarath Fonseka, the one who will be facing the Court Martial can have a lawyer of his choice or else he can request a serving officer in the Armed Forces to defend his case. If he appoints someone from the service he will be called as the ‘Friend of the Accused”.

In the morning Anoma Fonseka when she met the media persons said that her husband was abducted by the Army. Some news agencies published the image of Anoma Fonseka in tears .

This was a very old ploy adopted in the early sixties when Late Srimavo Bandaranaike entered politics leading party in the Parliamentary elections in 1960. Her images with tears were carried in all the media of the day and it worked. But subsequently wives who lost their husbands adopted the same ploy, but it failed to work.

According to reports by 6.30 in the evening Anoma Fonseka and Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa , Fonseka’s lawyer went in the same vehicle, taken by the Army, to meet Sarath Fonseka at his apartment where he is presently confined.

In the beginning Anoma Fonseka first was taken to meet her husband and later Fonseka’s Lawyer Wijeyadasa Rajapaksa was taken in to meet Fonseka.

The three of them were together till 9.30 in the evening according to an army source.

In the meantime as there was no public sympathy emerged from the general public countrywide on the news of the arrest of Sarath Fonseka, and as a desperate move the Sri Lanka's opposition called yesterday for the countrywide protests after its defeated presidential candidate was arrested for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government while serving as army commander.

Furthermore, Ranil Wickremasinghe, the leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the UNP has air-dashed to New Delhi to plead with the Indian leaders to interfere in the arrest of Sarath Fonseka.

It is learnt that the Indian leaders as usual gave a patient hearing, but did not responded to his plea.

A political source told that instead of Ranil Wickremasinghe going to India and appealing to the Indian leaders he could have chosen to meet the Sri Lanka President and appealed to him for the release of Sarath Fonseka.

- Asian Tribune -