Former Sri Lankan army general General Sarath Fonseka, who was arrested on February 8, has said that the charges filed against him by the Sri Lankan government were false.
Fifty-nine-year-old Fonseka, in a letter written to British television channel Channel 4 News, has said that he was being illegally confined in a small room of 10 feet by feet in the Sri Lankan Naval Headquarters and that he was being watched over by military guards all through the day.
The handwritten letters, Channel 4 News has claimed, had been smuggled out of the headquarters.
The former army general has been charged for contesting in the election while holding a military post and for giving an arms contract to a US-based company run by his son-in-law. But the cases have been filed under the Sri Lankan military law.
On Wednesday, Fonseka faced a court martial in connection with the alleged defence procurement irregularities during his tenure, but its proceedings were put off indefinitely over the composition of its panel.
The first court martial on charges of engaging in politics while in uniform was held on Tuesday, and the next hearing has been set for April 6. Fonseka disputed the proceedings as "illegal" and refused to reply to the accusations.
Fonseka's lawyers said he was not pleading to be guilty or not guilty, as the military court "has no power to hear and try these charges".
He retired from the army in July 2009 and therefore he cannot be arrested under the military law, they said.
Fonseka has challenged his arrest in the Supreme Court and the next hearing has been set on April 26.
A statement sent by the Lankan government to the channel said: "General Sarath Fonseka, the former commander of the Sri Lanka Army and former Chief of defence staff, Sri Lanka has been arrested under the Army Act of 1949 of Sri Lanka and his arrest is well within the law of the country."
Fonseka was the army chief when the Sri Lankan government dismantled the base of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009, under the leadership of the then Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
He later went on contest the country's presidential elections against Rajapaksha in January. Fonseka lost to Rajapaksa by 1.8 million votes, as claimed by the Lankan government, and was arrested in February.
"But I will never give up exposing rogue president for sake of country," he told Channel 4 News.
Fonseka has also urged to "all the leaders of the Free World", the "secretary of the United Nations" and the people of Sri Lanka to help him be freed from the "clutches of tyranny, corruption and nepotism".
He has also claimed that the presidential elections had been rigged and that he had been the actual winner.
"I hope the people of this country have realised that this rogue president stole their victory on last presidential election," he told Channel 4 News.
"He (Rajapaksa) is jealous of me as I got more votes than him although he rigged he knows that I can challenge him [sic]," he wrote, and added that he faced a threat to his life.
Fonseka's wife Anoma also told the channel that she feared for her husband's life. "I am very scared for him."
