Rights activists joined opposition lawmakers in a protest yesterday to demand the release of  jailed ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka on the second anniversary of his imprisonment.

Thousands of protestors yesterday gathered outside  Colombo’s law courts before marching to the capital’s main prison.

Fonseka ,who is credited with defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was arrested in February 2010 and accused of  illegal arms trading and conspiring to topple the government after unsuccessfully challenging Mahinda Rajapaksa,  in a presidential election a month earlier.

He is currently serving a 30 month sentence and faces another three year term for implicating the government in war crimes.

“The government should free Fonseka unconditionally and immediately,” said Catholic parliamentarian Joseph Michael Perera, who was among 20 lawmakers at the protest.

He called Fonseka’s imprisonment an attack on democracy and human rights.

“We will never stop our campaigns until the government restores the democratic rights of the people,”  Perera added.

Prominent Buddhist monk, Venerable Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thero, said Fonseka was a hero who all too quickly became a political prisoner.

“Where is democracy?” asked the Buddhist monk.

“The government pronounced Fonseka a war hero, but after he ran against the president he became an enemy overnight.”

Earlier this week Fonseka’s wife said she remained hopeful her husband will be released.

“There are demands from many quarters calling for his unconditional release. There’s no need for him to apologize as he hasn’t done anything wrong,” Anoma Fonseka said.

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