A cabinet minister in crisis-hit Sri Lanka was convicted of extorting money from a businessman over a land deal, a rare guilty verdict in a graft case. Prasanna Ranatunga — whose elder brother Arjuna captained the country’s cricket World Cup winning team — was given a two-year suspended prison sentence and fined 25 million Sri Lankan rupees. He is currently the urban development minister and was previously responsible for tourism, before a brief spell as public security minister.
Sri Lanka ranks 102nd out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2021, but it is extremely rare for senior Sri Lankan politicians to face accountability for graft allegations. Ranatunga intimidated the businessman to demand a bribe of Rs 64 million in 2015, the high court found. — AFP
