Colombo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Former General Sarath Fonseka will be released "soon". This is the announcement that the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made to Anoma Fonseka, wife of the former commander of the country's armed forces. The Council of Ministers has approved the release order for Fonseka, who since 8 February 2010 is imprisoned in Walikada, on charges of misconduct when he was commander in chief during the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels (LTTE ). The sentence was served last month.

Candidate for the presidency, his arrest came two weeks after the presidential elections, which saw the triumph of the current President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The vote was highly criticized, and representatives of civil society denounced fraud, an excessive deployment of the army and a "pre-announced" arrest warrant for Gen. Fonseka.

In nearly three years in prison, human rights activists, Buddhists and the Catholic Church have organized numerous events and campaigns for his release, arguing that the former general has never had the chance to have a fair trial. From prison, Gen. Fonseka has always accused the government of trying to keep him away from politics, and as revenge for his decision to stand against President Mahinda Rajapaksa.