SRI LANKAN AUTHORITIES ARREST SHIRANTHI RAJAPAKSA OVER CHARITY FUNDS

Sri Lanka's anti-corruption authority has arrested Shiranthi Rajapaksa, wife of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, over allegations that a charity linked to her misused donations meant for a children's hospital. Officials detained her at the family's home in Colombo on Wednesday. The inquiry concerns around 10 million rupees, equivalent to roughly $30,300 or £22,800, raised by the Siriliya Saviya charity to fund a specialised scanner for Colombo's Lady Ridgeway Children's Hospital. Officials said the hospital had already received a scanner donated by the Chinese government, raising questions over how the charity's funds were used.

Shiranthi Rajapaksa has denied any wrongdoing and said the money has not been misappropriated. She returned to Sri Lanka on Monday from Singapore, where she had been receiving medical treatment. She had filed a court petition seeking to prevent her arrest, with a hearing scheduled for 12 October. Manoj Gamage, a spokesperson for Mahinda Rajapaksa, said the funds remain safe in the charity's accounts and that no fraud had occurred.

Mahinda Rajapaksa served as Sri Lanka's president from 2005 to 2015, a period in which his family held considerable influence over national politics. He was credited by many with ending nearly three decades of civil war when government forces defeated Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009. His brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was removed from the presidency in 2022 following nationwide protests over inflation and shortages of fuel, food and medicine. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's government has since revived long-stalled corruption investigations involving several Rajapaksa family members. Shiranthi and Mahinda's son Namal Rajapaksa was arrested earlier this year over an aircraft procurement deal and remains in remand, while another son, Yoshitha Rajapaksa, was also arrested this year on corruption charges.