India urges fair trial for Sri Lankan ex-army chief

NEW DELHI, February 11, 2010 (AFP) – India urged Sri Lanka on Thursday to follow “due process” in its prosecution of Sri Lanka’s former army chief and defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka.

“As a friend and neighbour, we trust that due processes of law will be observed in democratic Sri Lanka in this matter,” the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Several western countries and human rights groups have objected to the fact that Fonseka is to be court-martialled rather than tried in a civilian court.

India wields considerable diplomatic influence over Sri Lanka, whose 12.

5 percent minority Tamil community has close links with million of Tamils in India’s Tamil Nadu state.

Fonseka was arrested on Monday — just weeks after his failed bid to unseat his former commander-in-chief, President Mahinda Rajapakse, at the ballot box.

He is being detained at a naval detention centre where he is currently awaiting court martial for conspiring against the government.

Rajapakse won the January 26 presidential poll with a comfortable 58 percent of the popular vote.

Colombo has yet to specify the charges Fonseka will face, but Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapa