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SF says conditions of his release not met
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Former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka told Daily Mirror the conditions he stipulated to Tiran Alles for his release from prison had not been met.
“Tiran Alles told me there were avenues open to negotiate my release with Mahinda Rajapaksa and he asked me if he should go ahead. I laid down some conditions. I said you can talk to him provided the following conditions are met,” Mr. Fonseka said adding that the conditions included the restoration of all his civic rights and the military honours bestowed on him.
“I said you can talk to him provided the following conditions are met. If I am to be released then I must have to have full freedom with full political rights. Mahinda Rajapaksa will have to restore everything that was taken away from me, my ranks, my medals, my pension and various other things that they had taken away from my family. My third condition was that they had to withdraw all the cases including the punishments given to us because they are not legitimate. I need the full freedom to do politics against Mahinda Rajapaksa and the government and that I will never join his government,” he said.
Mr. Fonseka said Mr. Alles agreed to negotiate his release under these conditions.
“He said he will negotiate under these conditions. I don’t know what he has been talking for eight months. I was just thrown out of prison without meeting any of these conditions and as far as I’m concerned I don’t think the talks he had were successful at all. Throwing me out of the prison has not done any justice to me”
When the Daily Mirror asked Mr. Fonseka if he felt betrayed by this he replied in the negative.
“I will not use that word, Tiran Alles might have done his best, I don’t want to be unfair by him but he appears to have been unable to do what I expected,”
Commenting on the split in the political movement, Mr. Fonseka said he would continue undeterred to work for the people, and that had the confidence in forming a tangible political movement which would change the entire political culture.
“Two MPs decided that they can’t work with me and with the rest of the people who work with me. They have their own agendas and their own way of doing politics. I like to do politics with people who devote their time with society and the people”
When asked about the similarity of views expressed by his former stalwarts Tiran Alles and Arjuna Ranatunga with the views of the Rajapaksa regime which has repeatedly accused Mr. Fonseka of ungratefulness, he said he was not indebted to anyone.
“These two MPs are trying to strengthen the arguments by Mahinda Rajapaksa and his group that is what they are doing. If Mahinda Rajapaksa thinks that just because I was appointed the army commander that I have to bow down to him and must do anything -- the type of things that they are doing now, then they must be thinking that is gratitude. I don’t think that is gratitude or gratefulness. Mahinda Rajapaksa was doing his job and nothing else I was the second in command at the time and I would have succeeded anyway,” he said.
Mr. Fonseka said Tiran and Arjuna had an obligation to look after his interests while he was jailed.
“They had an obligation to look after my interest, I wasn’t jailed because I robbed or because of thuggery. The only reason was because I opposed the President so yes they had an obligation to do certain things for me. When Mandela was imprisoned those supporters of his party continued to support him and I don’t think they went around gloating about what they did. Arjuna was my deputy leader in the party and he came to see me in prison only once in four months. Coming to see a prisoner once a month is the punishment for the prisoner. But when these people can come to see you every day they come only once in four months to see your party leader do you think they had done their part?” he asked.
Mr. Fonseka expressed confidence that his efforts to form a common opposition to topple the present regime would bear fruit in the near future.
“We will have our own government soon, the family rule will be over and the country will be on the right path. As much as I promised when I took over the Army that I won’t leave the war for another Army Commander, I assure you that in three years’ time you will see this difference with us governing this country,” he said. (Hafeel Farisz)
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