Leaders of Sri Lanka’s influential Buddhist clergy backed opposition demands yesterday for the immediate release of former army chief and defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka.
Top monks representing four sects appealed to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to free Fonseka who was arrested last Monday by the military on unspecified charges of conspiring against the government.
“Under no circumstances can we endorse the arrest of ... a war hero who delivered the country from the clutches of terrorists,” the monks said in a letter to Rajapakse, a copy of which was seen by reporters.
As the battlefield architect of the victory over the Tamil Tigers last May, Fonseka was feted for finally crushing their 37-year campaign for an independent Tamil homeland. After falling out with Rajapakse, he quit the army in November and ran against the president in elections on Jan. 26. Rajapakse won comfortably, and two weeks later Fonseka was arrested.
A spokesman for the monks said they would meet on Thursday to decide on further action if Rajapakse failed to respond to their request for Fonseka’s release.
Rajapakse has denied any link between the arrest and the presidential polls.
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