Sri Lanka's main opposition condemns Fonseka's imprisonment

Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) today condemned the President's endorsement of the jail term recommended by the second court martial against former Army Commander and parliamentarian retired General Sarath Fonseka.

Head of the UNP media unit and parliamentarian Mangala Samaraweera told a press conference that the presidential endorsement was not a surprise.
He said the UNP would launch a campaign both locally and internationally against Fonseka's imprisonment.
Samaraweera said that Fonseka's imprisonment was expected after senior public officials openly said the former Army Chief would be hung.
Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in an interview with BBC in June 2010 said that Fonseka should be executed as a traitor if he tried to betray the country and lie against the soldiers.