quinta-feira, 30 de setembro de 2010

Former Sri Lankan army chief sentenced to prison


Colombo, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka's former armed forces chief, was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment for "disgraceful conduct" in military procurements Thursday, officials said.
Fonseka, who led troops to defeat Tamil Tiger rebels last year, was to be moved from the Navy headquarters, where he was detained, to the Welikade Prison in Colombo.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who returned to Colombo after attending the United Nations sessions in New York, issued a proclamation upholding the findings by a court martial that Fonseka was guilty on four counts of violating military procurement procedures.
The court martial said Fonseka had "committed a fraudulent act" by not disclosing that his son-in-law Danuna Tillekeratne "had an interest or concern" in a local company that supplied the army with day vision binoculars, maintenance free batteries, power generators and very high frequency direction finders.
In August, the court martial had recommended that Fonseka, be stripped of all his ranks, titles, decorations and medals. His monthly pension was also withdrawn.
CNN