Was Ranil Wickremesinghe target of political witch hunt?

HISTORY was made when 76-year-old Ranil Sriyan Wickremesinghe was arrested by the Sri Lankan Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on charges of alleged corruption and misappropriation of public funds amounting to a little over Rs. 16.6 million and produced before the Colombo Fort Magistrate on 22 August 2025.

- By D.B.S. Jeyaraj

He was charged under Section 5(1) of the Public Property Act and Sections 386 and 388 of the Penal Code.

Six times Prime Minister Wickremesinghe who served as the eighth Executive President of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024 was remanded for four days until 26 August by the magistrate Nilupuli Lankapura. A manacled Ranil was taken away from court precincts in a Black Maria. Ranil Wickremesinghe thus became the first Sri Lankan ex-President and former Prime Minister to be arrested and remanded in the history of Sri Lanka.

The arrest and remand of Ranil Wickremesinghe made this writer ponder a while on the bizarre twists of fate. Ranil Wickremesinghe is a person who was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. His paternal grandfather C.L. Wickremesinghe belonged to the prestigious Ceylon Civil service. His maternal grandfather D.R. Wijewardene was a powerful press baron and land owner. Ranil’s father Esmond Wickremesinghe, a lawyer by profession, married D.R. Wijewardene’s daughter Nalini. He was for many years the Managing Director of the “Lake House” group of newspapers.

Unlike many politicians who enriched themselves through dubious means after entering politics, Ranil is one who was never corrupt personally. Wickremesinghe has many faults and flaws but was never perceived as a person lacking financial integrity.

This image has been dented in recent times. He has been accused of “crony capitalism” and of turning a blind eye at times to party members and friends minting money through shady deals. Ranil has been severely criticised for that tendency. Despite this criticism, no credible allegation of Ranil being personally corrupt has ever been proved or validated. This is because it simply was not true.