VIDEO: President confirms 30-month jail term for Fonseka

Sri Lanka’s president has confirmed the 30-month jail term imposed on former army chief Sarath Fonseka following his conviction by a military court, an official said Thursday.

President Mahinda Rajapakse approved the prison sentence for a period of two-and-a-half years after returning Wednesday from New York, where he addressed the U.N. general assembly, a senior government official said.

“The court martial has recommended up to three years in jail, but the president has decided he will be in prison for 30 months,” the official, who didn’t want to be named, said.

Earlier this month, the second court martial in Sri Lanka held 59-year-old Fonseka guilty on all four counts in a case related to the procurement of arms by the Army in violation of the tender procedures, and recommended that he be jailed for up to three years.

The verdict on September 17 came after Fonseka was stripped of all his ranks and pension a few weeks ago by the first court martial that convicted him of the charge of dabbling in politics while being in uniform.

The recommendations had been sent to the President as it had to be approved by him as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Fonseka, who successfully led the Sri Lankan military in the war against the LTTE which ended in May last year, was charged with favouring a company headed  by his son-in-law, who is also an accused in a separate case filed in the high court on the same charges.

The former army chief was found guilty of the charges of purchase of night vision devices, generators, batteries and equipment for VHS direction finders from a firm with which his son-in-law was associated.