பயங்கரவாதத்தை தோற்கடித்த ஜெனரலுக்கு பக்சபாசிஸ்டுக்களின் இராணுவ விசாரணை மன்றம் இரண்டரை ஆண்டு சிறைவிதிப்பு!

'பயங்கரவாதத்தை' தோற்கடித்த ஜெனரலுக்கு பக்சபாசிஸ்டுக்களின் இராணுவ விசாரணை மன்றம் இரண்டரை ஆண்டு சிறைவிதிப்பு!

குட்டிமணி, தங்கத்துரை கொல்லப்பட்ட வெலிகடையில் ஜெனரல் சரத் பொன்சேகா சிறை வைப்பு!!

Sri Lanka's ex-army chief begins jail sentence
by Amal Jayasinghe Amal Jayasinghe
Thu Sep 30, 1:37 pm ET COLOMBO (AFP) –
Sri Lanka's ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka, who led troops to victory over Tamil rebels to end a decades-long civil war, on Thursday began 30 months in jail after the president
confirmed the sentence.
Troops escorted the former four-star general to the island's main Welikada prison, hours after the government announced that President Mahinda Rajapakse had approved Fonseka's conviction by a military court.
"He was taken from military custody and handed over to prison authorities to start his sentence," an army officer said.
Fonseka fell out with Rajapakse over who should take credit for defeating the Tamil Tigers in May last year and unsuccessfully tried to unseat him in a January election.
Fonseka was found guilty at a court martial on four counts of making irregular purchases for the military when he was its commander at the height of fighting in the island's northeast.
Rajapakse approved the sentence of two-and-a-half years "rigorous imprisonment" on Wednesday after returning from addressing the United Nations in New York, Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.
"The president, as commander-in-chief, has confirmed the court martial decision," Rambukwella told reporters. "The sentence begins from today."
A senior official who declined to be named said Fonseka could appeal to a civilian court and could also seek bail pending a hearing.
"The court martial recommended up to three years in jail, but the president has decided he will be in prison for 30 months," the official said.
Fonseka's Democratic National Alliance (DNA) party said they would appeal the sentence and accused Rajapakse of leading a political vendetta.
"It is not the court martial which is responsible for jailing General Fonseka," DNA lawmaker Tiran Alles told AFP. "It is the president who today jailed his main political opponent."
Alles said Rajapakse had ordered the imprisonment of Fonseka despite requests from the island's influential Buddhist clergy as well as other religious leaders.
Fonseka was hailed as a hero after soldiers under his command crushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last year. Tamil separatist leaders were killed while pinned down on the coast after a massive military offensive.
The Tigers' defeat ended nearly 40 years of separatist conflict in Sri Lanka, but rights groups say thousands of civilians were also killed in the final onslaught and that Tamils remain badly discriminated against.
The conviction of Fonseka on September 17 came after he was stripped of his rank and pension following another court martial that found him guilty last month of dabbling in politics while in uniform.
Fonseka was arrested two weeks after his defeat in the elections and has remained in military custody since. However, he won a seat in parliamentary elections in April, allowing him to attend the legislature.
The ex-army chief has said the government is seeking revenge for his decision to stand against the president and wants to keep him from speaking in parliament, which is controlled by Rajapakse loyalists.
"The court martial was just a puppet show with the government holding the strings," his wife Anoma told reporters in Colombo Thursday. "We knew that he will be jailed so this announcement from the government today does not come as a surprise to us."
Fonseka also faces civilian charges of employing army deserters and revealing state secrets -- offences that carry a 20-year jail term.
He has angered the government by publicly declaring that he was ready to go before any international tribunal to answer charges of alleged war crimes while crushing the Tamil Tigers.
The United Nations estimates that at least 7,000 ethnic Tamil civilians were killed in the final months of fighting between government troops and the Tamil Tigers, but Colombo has said no civilians were killed and refused to allow any independent probe.

Former SLA commander Fonseka in Welikada Prison
[TamilNet, Friday, 01 October 2010, 09:03 GMT]
Sarath Fonseka, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, was transferred to Welikada Prison
Thursday around 10:30 p.m to serve his 30 months’ rigorous imprisonment following the ratification of the recommendation of the Second Court Martial. Sri Lanka President’s ratification endorsed that Fonseka should serve thirty months in prison and not 36 months as recommended by the Second Court Martial for violating tender procedures in purchasing arms to the Sri Lanka Army.
Fonseka is being held separately in the prison and not with other prisoners, prison sources said.
Fonseka was brought to Welikada prison from the Navy Headquarters where he was kept in detention since February 8.
The transfer took place after photographers and television video crews ended a 12-hour watch outside the prison complex located adjoining the Baseline road, Borella expecting Fonseka’s arrival.
However, the media personnel left the place following heavy rainfall.