In a parallel court filing, the government alleged that these recordings, as well as previous ones in which a now former senior official reveals an alleged internal corruption network, are part of an illegal intelligence operation aimed at destabilizing Argentina's democracy. According to Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, journalists and people linked to Russian intelligence services with influence in Venezuela are behind the plot.
Wickremesinghe, 76, is the first Sri Lankan former head of state to be arrested. He has been accused of using around $55,000 in state funds for a stopover in Britain while returning home from a diplomatic trip to Havana and New York in September 2023. Following his arrest on Friday, the ex-president was taken to Welikada prison in the suburbs of Colombo before being moved to the prison hospital and later the main state-run hospital in the city.