Sri Lankan Police Raid Defeated Opposition Candidate’s Office
By ROGENE FISHER (The Lede ~ New York Times Blog)
Sri Lanka’s quarter-century-long civil war may have ended, but there is no peace between the two rivals in Tuesday’s presidential contest. Police raided opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka’s campaign headquarters on Friday, seizing computer equipment and arresting 15 members of his staff.
Sri Lankan police Special Task Force commandos blocked a road outside the office retired Gen. Sarath Fonseka during a raid of his office in Colombo. Rafiq Maqbool/Associated Press
Officials accused Mr. Fonseka, the former army chief, of plotting to overthrow the government and assassinate President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who defeated Mr. Fonseka by a wide margin in Tuesday’s vote, according to official results.
The former army chief was at his house in Colombo, the capital, at the time of the operation, according to Reuters.
According to the BBC, the government cordoned off the street during the raid and excluded all journalists from the leafy street where the general’s campaign office is situated.
