Sri Lanka’s former President Ranil Wickremesinghe was granted bail on Tuesday (August 26, 2025) by the Colombo Magistrate Court, days after he was arrested for allegedly misusing state funds for a private visit to London in 2013.
The bail was granted on health grounds, local media reported, after the hearing Tuesday afternoon, amid tight security around the court, where Mr. Wickremesinghe’s supporters had gathered.
Soon after he was remanded in custody on Friday (August 22, 2025), Mr. Wickremesinghe was transferred to the prison hospital and later to the Colombo National Hospital’s intensive care unit, where he has been receiving treatment since. Hospital officials said the 76-year-old leader’s high blood pressure and diabetes condition needed monitoring. Mr. Wickremesinghe joined Tuesday’s court hearing from the ICU through a web link.
The ex-President is accused of spending state funds — to the tune of LKR 16.6 million, or about $55,000 — while in office, for stopping over in the United Kingdom, to attend a ceremony at a British University along with his wife, a senior academic.
Mr. Wickremesinghe’s office has denied he misused public funds during the visit. This is the first time a former Head of State in Sri Lanka has faced arrest, and the move came as part of the National People’s Power government’s ongoing crackdown on corruption. It brought diverse opposition voices together in support of Mr. Wickremesinghe, a six-time Prime Minister and accidental President.
Mr. Wickremesinghe was elected to the country’s top office in July 2022 — in an urgent parliamentary vote — after his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa was deposed by a citizens’ uprising when the island’s economy crashed. He helmed the country until 2024, initiating painful austerity measures backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and is credited with steering the country to relative stability. In September that year, he lost the presidential elections to Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who rose to power promising to wipe out corruption.
Past Presidents, including Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Maithripala Sirisena, and several opposition leaders have condemned the arrest, contending that it amounts to an “assault on democracy” and “political revenge” by the ruling Dissanayake administration. The government has maintained “everyone is equal before law”.
Meanwhile, Mr. Wickremesinghe’s office said he would continue to receive treatment at the hospital over the next few days.
