Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, center, is produced in a court by the police in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Lahiru Harshana)2025-08-22T09:55:22Z COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) Sri Lankan police on Friday arrested the countrys former president and senior opposition politician Ranil Wickremesinghe over allegations of misusing public funds during his tenure as president, police said.Wickremesinghe, who served as the island nations president from 2022 to 2024, was arrested on allegations of using public funds to attend his wifes graduation ceremony in London after an official visit to the U.S, police spokesman Fedrick Wootler told The Associated Press.Wickremesinghes aide, Danushka Ramanayake, said that the former president has been taken to a court after being arrested by the Financial Crimes Investigations Department.Wickremesinghe is the first Sri Lankan former head of state to be arrested and is the most high profile leader who is under investigation for corruption under President Anura Kumara Dissanayakes government which came to power last year promising to punish those accused of corruption under previous governments Dissanayake won the presidential election in September last year in an election that saw voters reject an old guard accused of leading the country into an economic crisis. Two months later, his party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary election that enabled him to form a strong government.Already, more than a dozen political leaders of the previous government and ex-high government officials have been arrested and are under investigation for alleged corruptions and malpractices. Stay up to date with similar stories by signing up to our WhatsApp channel. Wickremesinghe became president after Sri Lankas economic upheaval led to a political crisis that forced then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign in 2022. Wickremesinghe is credited with stabilizing the crumbling economy with inflation falling, the local currency strengthened and foreign reserves increased under him. But he was severely criticized for implementing stringent austerity measures including raising taxes and utility bills that came as a part of a bailout package with the International Monetary Fund entered into by his government.