Sri Lankan General Sarath Fonseka Arrested

In a shocking new development the Sri Lankan military arrested its ex chief and retired general Sarath Fonseka who was celebrated as a national hero not long ago. The arrested retired general who lost the recent election to Mahinda Rajapaksa by 17 percentage points, was taken into custody by dozens of military police officers at his office, where he was meeting with several Parliament members to discuss coming legislative elections.

At the time of his arrest, Gen. Fonseka was having a meeting with JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe, SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem and Democratic People's Front leader Mano Ganeshan on the possible strategies to contest the upcoming general election and on filing a petition against the alleged election malpractices on polling day.

"They arrested him and carried him out like a dog," Mr. Ganesan said in a telephone interview to the New York Times.

Mr. Hakeem said Gen. Fonseka was taken out in a despicable and disgraceful manner "No civilized government would resort to this kind of action," he said adding that they were flabbergasted to see a military hero being treated in this manner.

Sarath Fonseka lead the ruthless military campaign against the Tamil rebels of Sri Lanka which culminated in the tragic humanitarian crisis with over 80,000 civilians killed during the last phases of the war. During this period numerous war crimes are known to have been committed by members of Fonseka's army.

Several videos have surfaced on the internet and were broadcast by leading media channels in UK, Canada, USA and India that depict the serious crimes committed by Fonseka's army members.

Earlier on Feb 02, Brigadier Duminda Keppetiwalana, aide to the former Sri Lankan army chief General Fonseka, was arrested over the murder last year of journalist Lasantha Wickrematunga.

Brigadier Keppetiwalana, who served as the former army chief's military assistant, was among 13 senior officers associated with General Fonseka who were ousted following President Rajapaksa's election victory.

With Sri Lanka's recent close alignment with countries such as China, Russia and Iran, the countries democratic norms and standards are taking a severe blow. With the Army General who commanded the ruthless army and the President who ordered the war at loggerheads, more and more human rights violation by several parties involved are likely to come to the light of international attention in the coming days.

While Sarath - the darling of most Sinhalese nationalists during May 2009, is now close to biting the bullet, Rajapakse has gained a seven year rule of the nation and remains the sole national hero for several Sinhalese nationalists today.