Defeated Sri Lankan presidential candidate and ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka is set to face a court martial¹.

斯里兰卡总统选举中败北的候选人、前陆军司令萨拉特·丰塞卡将面临军事法庭审判。

Gen Fonseka has been detained since January

Mr Fonseka will be tried by a military tribunal（法庭） on charges of participating in politics while in office and violating military procurement²（获得，取得） procedures.

He says the charges are politically motivated and an attempt to stop him contesting April's parliamentary polls.

Gen Fonseka was arrested by the army last month. He lost to incumbent³ President Mahinda Rajapaksa in January.

Protests against his arrest and court martial（军事法庭） have been held in Colombo.

Gen Fonseka was in charge of Sri Lanka's army when it defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels last year after 25 years of civil war.

But he and President Rajapaksa fell out（争吵） over who should take credit for the victory - and both fought the presidential election boasting of their roles in the war.

Officials have also accused Gen Fonseka of plotting a coup⁴（政变，妙计） and the assassination⁵ of President Rajapaksa - charges he denies - but those accusations⁶ will not figure at the court martial.

Secret trial

Sri Lanka's ex-chief justice, Sarath Silva, has said the court martial is unconstitutional as Gen Fonseka, in his view, is not subject to military law.

Gen Fonseka would have to be tried in a civilian⁷ court, he said.

Gen Fonseka's daughter, Apsara, has accused the government of trying the retired⁸ general in order to remove him from the 8 April parliamentary election, in which he intends to stand.

The court martial will be held at naval⁹（海军的） headquarters in the capital, where Gen Fonseka is detained.

There he will be tried, completely in secret, by a panel of officers junior in rank to himself, the BBC's Charles Haviland reports from Colombo.

Even the wording of the charges has not been made public, our correspondent adds.

Gen Fonseka can have his own lawyers present at the court martial and can appeal to the higher civilian courts if he is found guilty, Sri Lanka's military spokesman has told the BBC.

Ahead of the court martial, Gen Fonseka's Democratic National Alliance party said he would not co-operate with the proceedings¹⁰, AFP news agency reported.