President Maithripala Sirisena, issuing a special order, has made a directive to drop all charges against former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka and restore all his civic rights, army titles with immediate effect.
Fonseka was appointed Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) by President Rajapaksa on 15 July 2009. He was the first person appointed CDS under the newly approved Chief of Defence Staff Act, which was supposed to give the CDS more responsibilities in co-ordinating the armed forces.
Fonseka challenged Mahinda Rajapaksa at the January 2010 Presidential Poll.
Later he was arrested on February 8, 2010 and court martialed.
Fonseka found guilty before a second Court Martial hearing and was sentenced to two and a half years rigorous imprisonment. The Colombo High Court acquitted Fonseka of all charges in the HiCorp case, after the defence counsels took charged on the basis that the accused had been already found guilty before a second Court Martial for similar charges in connection with the HiCorp case.
