COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Gen. Sarath Fonseka, former head of the Sri Lankan Army and a candidate for president, was convicted Friday of engaging in politics in uniform.
A court martial recommended Fonseka, who is retired, receive a "dishonorable discharge from rank," The Hindu reported. The final decision is up to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, challenged by Fonseka in the January election.
Fonseka, who led the final campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was the first general in the Sri Lankan Army to be promoted to four-star rank. After the Tigers were crushed in May 2009, he and the president developed political differences, and Fonseka became the opposition candidate.
He has also been charged with planning to bring down the government.
His lawyers told Sri Lankan newspapers they plan to appeal.
