London: Leading rights body Amnesty
International has slammed the Sri Lankan government for its
"crackdown on political opposition," following the arrest of
former military chief Sarath Fonseka, which it said escalates
"post-election repression".
Amnesty said the arrest of the war hero and Mahinda
Rajapaksa's main presidential challenger in the January 26
polls "continues the government's post-election crackdown on
political opposition".
Sam Zarifi, Amnesty Internationals Asia-Pacific director
asked Rajapaksa to "steer the country toward a better human
rights record" following his election victory that came after
the defeat of the Tamil Tigers.
"Instead, we're seeing less and less tolerance for
criticism," the body said.
Fonseka, who led the Army to a victory over the LTTE,
fell out with the President and mounted an election campaign
against him.
Following Rajapaksa's victory, the government claimed it
had unearthed a Fonseka-led plot to topple the ruling
dispensation and assassinate the President.
Fonseka, 58, was picked up from his office last night and
faces a possible execution, with the government planning to
try him in a military court.
"His detention escalates post-election repression,"
Amnesty said in a statement.
"He has been arrested with his personal assistant," one
of the general's spokesmen, now in hiding, told The Times.
"We are shocked, because we thought the dust was starting
to settle," he said.
Fonseka was dragged away by the military police who
stormed his campaign office last night where he met opposition
leaders to discuss challenging the results of the January 26
election in the Supreme Court.
The fear now is that General Fonseka's supporters in the
army, who are still thought to be many, could rebel against
the Government, undermining a fragile peace that took almost
three decades to achieve, the Times said.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 09, 2010, 17:39