Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, currently in remand custody, is unlikely to appear in court today due to health concerns, Prisons Spokesman Jagath Weerasinghe stated.

Speaking to local media, Weerasinghe said doctors have advised that Ranil Wickremesinghe remain in the hospital to continue treatment. He added that if the Magistrate orders the former president to appear online via Zoom, the necessary arrangements will be made.

“The doctors have recommended that he continue his treatment in the ICU under observation. Therefore, it is unlikely we will be able to present him physically in court. If the magistrate directs an online appearance, we will facilitate it from his hospital bed,” the Prisons Spokesman said.

Ranil Wickremesinghe was arrested last Friday and remanded over allegations of misusing state funds for a personal overseas trip during his presidency. Following his remand, he was transferred to the Prison Hospital, then to Colombo National Hospital, and currently remains in the ICU.

He is the first former head of state in Sri Lanka to be arrested. According to a police B-report submitted to a Colombo court, the former president travelled to the United Kingdom on 22nd–23rd of September 2023, to attend his wife’s PhD graduation at the University of Wolverhampton. The private visit was appended to his official state trip to Cuba and the United States.

A delegation accompanied him on the London leg of the trip, and approximately Rs. 16.9 million in government funds were spent, prompting the allegations of misuse of state resources.