Appeal to President for pardon, Anoma Fonseka told

The wife of Sarath Fonseka, if she is sincerely interested in obtaining a presidential pardon for Sarath Fonseka, should make a formal appeal to President Mahinda Rajapaksa rather than appealing to heads of state of other countries, Presidential spokesman Bandula Jayasekara said yesterday.

He said that Mrs. Fonseka should refrain from following the practice of the Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe by running to foreign governments and countries to plead for internal matters.

"I have read in the newspapers that Mrs. Anoma Fonseka and her daughters are preparing a petition to be sent to the White House.In her letter Ms. Apsara Fonseka goes on to say "We are in need of international interference when it comes to justice.." etc. We are of the view that appealing to a President of another country is a futile exercise," he said."What Mrs. Fonseka could do is to make a direct appeal to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, who may consider Mrs. Fonseka's appeal sympathetically. It does not cost anything to visit Temple Trees in Colombo 3, unlike the United States of America which is thousands of miles away. Mrs. Fonseka should not follow the practice of the Leader of the Opposition and run to foreign governments and countries," Jayasekera said.

He added that President Rajapaksa could be described as the most accessible Head of State in the world. "It should not be forgotten that, the President, on humanitarian grounds granted permission for Sarath Fonseka, to attend the funeral of his niece, when the normal practice is that, people serving prison sentences are allowed only to attend funerals of their immediate family members," he said.

Presidential Spokesman recalled how the then UNP Government treated President Rajapaksa when he was in prison while he was a Member of Parliament. "He was not even allowed to visit his ailing mother. When his mother passed away, the then government did not allow him to attend his mother's funeral. Finally, he had to seek the permission of the judiciary to attend his mother's funeral with prison officials, with the approval of the Judge," he said.