Sri Lanka military court finds former Army chief guilty
August 13th, 2010 - 7:16 pm ICT by IANSColombo, Aug 13 (IANS) A military court here Friday found the former Army chief General Sarath Fonseka guilty of doing politics while still in uniform, Xinhua reported.
Fonseka would be accordingly stripped of all his ranks and decorations in what is known as “dishonorable discharge”, military sources said.
The verdict was read out during the military court proceedings Friday afternoon.
This was the first of two courts martial which Fonseka was subject to since his arrest Feb 8.
The proceedings began March 8 under a three-member military court bench.
Fonseka is also facing the second court martial on alleged misconduct as the chief of the Army’s tender board.
Fonseka led the Sri Lanka Army from December 2005 until November 2009.
He was credited for the Army’s victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels, ending the over three decade campaign to set up a separate Tamil homeland.
He contested the Jan 26 presidential election against the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa and lost convincingly. He has challenged the result in court.
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- Three-year jail term for Sarath Fonseka - Sep 18, 2010
- Sri Lankan ex-Army chief convicted for engaging in politics while on active service - Aug 13, 2010
- Sri Lanka court frees four co-accused in Fonseka 'conspiracy' case - Sep 25, 2010
- Fonseka jailed for three years - Nov 18, 2011
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- Marxist party wants Sri Lanka's ex-army chief released - Mar 23, 2010
- Court martial of Sri Lanka's ex-army chief postponed - Apr 06, 2010
- Chaos in Colombo court after ex-army chief gets new jail term - Nov 19, 2011
- Hearing in fraud case against Rajapaksa begins - Jul 05, 2010
- Former Sri Lankan Army chief arrested, to be court-martialled (Second Lead) - Feb 09, 2010
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