Sri Lanka’s court of appeal on Monday ordered the suspension of a court martial against ex-army chief and defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka.
The court ordered that the military tribunal that began the hearing against Fonseka on March 16 should halt its work until a decision was made on the validity of the military legal proceedings.
Fonseka, who was defeated by incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa at January polls, was arrested in February and charged with engaging in politics before he had quit the army in November.
He says the charges were part of a political vendetta. Fonseka last year led troops to victory over Tamil Tiger rebels after decades of ethnic conflict on the island, but he later fell out with Rajapaksa.
Meanwhile, a second court martial hearing against him is expected to go ahead on Tuesday. The second court martial is probing charges of violation of military procurement procedures by Fonseka.
source:timesofindia