SAJITH PREMADASA HOPES FONSEKA’S RELEASE WILL BE WITHOUT ANY RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITS
Posted on May 20th, 2012
By Walter Jayawardhana
The Hindu newspaper in a front page news item said that contrary to speculation that a procedural snag is delaying the release of former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka the stage has been ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ set for the release .
After visiting the jailed leader now in Nawaloka Hospital, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ with other parliamentarians of his party. the Deputy leader of the United National Party, Sajith Premadasa said his party hopes the freedom grantedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ will be a one without any conditions or limitations.
He also told the Sirasa TV that when ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ General Fonseka is out he could provide leadership to all parties in the opposition. Now the Leader of Opposition is UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe.
The two daughters Apsara and Aparna Fonseka flew to Sri Lanka to visit their father in the Nawaloka Hospital.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Aparna told TV cameramen that even during the height of the war her father led, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ their dad managed to see them every six months. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- But this time my sister and I saw him after two and half years. My father and three of us were in tears,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ the elder daughter Apsara said.
She said the first thing they would do when he is free is to visit a Buddhist temple for religious observances.
The following is the item the Hindu published:
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The stage has been set for the release of the jailed General Sarath Fonseka, contrary to speculation that a procedural snag was delaying his leaving the hospital where he was shifted to last week.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-President Mahinda Rajapaksa signed the papers on 18th evening and handed over the papers to Chief of Staff Gamini Senerath before leaving for Qatar to enable the release of Sarath Fonseka. Papers will be sent to the Ministry of Justice on Monday,ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Bandula Jayasekara, Presidential Spokesman, said early on Sunday.
Speculation on his release date began doing the rounds after The Hindu broke the story on his release, after speaking to the President on the sidelines of a function held here last week to launch a book, GotaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s War.
At no stage did the officials set a date on the release. The President himself is on record, telling The Hindu that details of his release were being worked out, and that he was waiting for MP Tiren Alles, the main negotiator between the President and the Fonseka family, to come back from abroad, before taking steps on procedures ahead of a release. The first formality was a Cabinet approval. This came last Thursday.
Sarath Fonseka, who was arrested on February 8, 2010 by military police and subjected to a court martial on a variety of charges, that included harbouring deserters, and defaming the Defence Secretary, has served more than 2 years in prison. He is now serving a 30-month jail term and has also been convicted for another 3 years last November.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
May 20th, 2012 at 4:19 pm
“He also told the Sirasa TV that when General Fonseka is out he could provide leadership to all parties in the opposition. Now the Leader of Opposition is UNP leader Ranil Wickramasinghe.”
LOVELY!
Let the battles begin. Will Run-NIL PEACEFULLY handover the UNP leadership to SF or will SF have to do another humanitarian operation to take it?
Will TNA accept his leadership or will he have to use other means to get TNA onboard?
May 20th, 2012 at 6:46 pm
It is really good to hear that Sarath Fonseka will be released from prison today. Once he is a free man it is up to him to prove if he is the real war hero or the villein, where his loyalties are, to Sri Lanka or to US and the West. He has already betrayed the army once he led and betrayed the trust placed by his commander-in -chief. I hope he has learned the hard way not to fall into the traps set by the likes of Ranil & Co and put the country before himself. Leading an army is one thing, one is groomed to do it for nearly thirty years. And it is a sort of a dictatorial role, but leading a democratic nation is a totally different role.I sincere;y hope Sarath Fonseka will give a loth of thought before he makes his next move.
May 21st, 2012 at 8:02 am
People employed from the Sri Lankan govt engage in propaganda against SF.
That is how they survive by bashing US, Ranil ,SF……