Warrant Issued for Wimal Weerawansa: Arrest and Bring to Court Immediately

 The Colombo Fort Magistrate's Court today issued a warrant for the arrest of former Minister Wimal Weerawansa, leader of the National Freedom Front. The primary reason for issuing this warrant is his failure to appear before the court when a case against him was taken up for hearing. This case has been filed based on an accusation that he misused government-owned vehicles while serving as a minister during the previous government.

Wimal Weerawansa was also arrested by the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) on January 10, 2017, on charges of misusing government vehicles while serving as a minister under President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Due to the rejection of bail applications on several occasions at that time, the former minister was held in remand prison for nearly three months, eventually being granted bail on April 07, 2017.

While in remand custody, claiming that these legal proceedings against him were political victimization, he also commenced a hunger strike, which garnered significant media attention at the time. Responding to appeals from the Maha Sangha and friendly politicians, he abandoned the fast and re-entered active politics after being granted bail.

In addition to these legal proceedings involving Mr. Wimal Weerawansa, a court verdict had also been previously delivered against his wife, Mrs. Shashi Weerawansa.

In May 2022, the Colombo Magistrate's Court sentenced her to two years in prison in connection with obtaining passports, including a diplomatic passport, by submitting forged documents and false information.

In addition to the prison sentence, she was also fined one hundred thousand rupees, and it was reported that the court ordered an additional six months imprisonment if the fine was not paid. Many media outlets reported this incident as part of a series of politically controversial events surrounding Mr. Wimal Weerawansa.