Sri Lankan former Army chief faces continuous trial

Sri Lanka's court martial against former Army chief and opposition parliamentarian Sarath Fonseka is to sit in continuous trial from Sept. 13 throughout Sept. 18, military officials said on Friday.

When the court resumed on Friday the case was put off due to the non-appearance of Fonseka's counsel, military sources said.

This is the second court martial against Fonseka. He faces charges of financial misappropriation during his conduct as the chief of the Army's procurement tender board.

The first court martial had already sentenced Fonseka and ordered the withdrawal of military ranks and medals. It found him guilty for doing politics while in uniform in the judgment delivered early August.

Fonseka led the Army from December 2005 to July 2009 and was responsible for the military victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels.

He became the common opposition candidate in the January presidential election which he lost to the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa.

He was arrested on Feb. 8 and has remained in custody since then.

Source: Xinhua