Arrested! Fonseka's Follies Finally Earn Him Legal Retribution

No Sri Lankan Patriot wanted it to come to this, but Gen. Sarath Fonseka had not learned this basic principle of survival: When immersed nose deep in mud, the wise keep their mouths closed!

Gen. Fonseka will have the time to ponder this truism, as he contemplates the errors of judgment that led to his precipitous fall from grace from being, perhaps, the third most admired man in Sri Lanka to one of the most vilified, in a brief period of nine months. World history abounds with such instances of foolish men of unbounded ambition destroying themselves when they loosen their grasp on honor, duty and patriotism.

Colombopage had this to say today (February 08, 2010) about Gen. Fonseka's arrest:

General Fonseka has been arrested on charges of committing military offenses during his time in the Army," the newly appointed military spokesman Major General Prasad Samarasinghe said in an official statement to the Government Media Unit. He did not elaborate on the specific offenses.

Director General of the Media Centre for National Security, Lakshman Hulugalle, said Fonseka would face charges in a military court of conspiracy against the government.

.....

The government has accused General Fonseka of plotting to assassinate the President and overthrow the government by a coup. The government has arrested over 50 of his loyal retired military officers on planning the coup. General Fonseka denies all government's accusations against him.

However, a BBC report said earlier in the day the General had threatened to divulge the military secrets in response to alleged war crimes against the Sri Lankan military during the final phase of the war against the LTTE.

.....

Early in his presidential campaign in an interview to a Sunday weekly, the opposition candidate accused the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of ordering the Army's 58 Division leader to kill the senior LTTE cadres who were attempting to surrender with white flags.

He later retracted the statement saying the paper misquoted him but the government and the media said the retired commander betrayed the nations and the damage to the country and the military had been done by the General's statement for political gain.

According to The Asian Tribune the main charges, read out to Gen. Fonseka at the time of his arrest, were

• Politicking whilst in uniform,

• Conspiring against the Commander-in-Chief whilst in Service,

• Harboring more than 1,500 deserters whilst on Service,

• And, corrupt practices in relating to military procurements.

We trust that the Government has all of the necessary evidence to support these charges, and that they will promptly release him if the evidence available cannot stand up to legal scrutiny. However, what we know of Gen. Fonseka's activities to date since the end of the Eelam War in May, 2009, as reported in the press and elsewhere, leads us to believe that Gen. Fonseka will be convicted in a court of law, and will spend a significant portion of his life behind bars.

We take no joy in the downfall of one we considered a war-hero, but we firmly believe that those who betray their country by deed and word for ANY REASON WHATSOEVER, must be held ACCOUNTABLE, if only to serve as an example to deter others from VIOLATING the Law of the Land, and UNDERMINING the National Security of the Motherland.

Let ALL those who conspire to betray the Motherland, and violate Sri Lanka's laws with impunity take note: You will no longer will be allowed to run free; you will be held accountable for your actions! You can RUN, but you will not be able to HIDE! Therefore, CEASE and DESIST, in your own interest.