Colombo: A day after he was hauled away
from his office by military personnel, the wife of former army
chief Sarath Fonseka said her husband's whereabouts remained
"unknown" and she feared for his safety.
Accusing the government of "abducting" her husband,
his wife Anoma asked for help to trace his whereabouts,
charging that the authorities had cut him off from even his
family.
Her charges came as the government said he would face
court martial for plotting to overthrow President Mahinda
Rajapaksa while still serving in the Army.
"Fonseka would face a court martial even though he is
not a serving officer," a brief official statement posted at
the defence ministry website said.
The government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said to a news agency that 59-year-old-former army chief will be tried in a military
court on charges of conspiring against Rajapaksa and planning
a coup while in service.
"He was plotting against the President when he was the
head of the armed forces with the idea of overthrowing the
government and had established contacts with opposition
parties," Rambukwella claimed.
As the concern for the defeated Presidential candidate
grew, a military official merely said, the former army chief
had been moved to an undisclosed military establishment ahead
of facing disciplinary action.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 09, 2010, 17:03