According to Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Prasad Samarasinghe the second Court Martial on Rtd. Gen. Sarath Fonseka was conducted this morning at the Navy Headquarters and the General had appeared for the Court Martial with his lawyers.

When the Court Martial assembled to hear charges of alleged contravention of military procurement procedures against General Sarath Fonseka it unanimously decided to adjourn its sittings and refer the composition of the tribunal to convening authorities, Army media said.

Media and public is not permitted to the court-martial. But defense attorney Nuwan Bopage said the panel of three army officers on the bench postponed Wednesday's hearing and will ask Rajapaksa whether a new panel should be asked to hear the second charge.

Bopage said the officers did not give a reason for their decision, he said.
The army said in a statement that the court-martial would reconvene for the sake of transparency and maintaining "an unprejudiced nature."

Yesterday Fonseka appeared before the court-martial on accusations he prepared the groundwork for his January presidential campaign, which he lost badly, while still in military uniform. But today’s charges were related to accusations Fonseka breached procedure in purchasing military hardware.

Gen. Fonseka has questioned the impartiality of the judges, saying the panel included two men whom Fonseka had disciplined when he ran the army. An the panel's third member was a close relative of the current army commander who initiated the court-martial.

President Rajapaksa and Gen. Fonseka were strong allies in their campaign to defeat the LTTE rebels in their 25-year armed campaign for an independent state. But after defeating the LTTE in May 2009, the leaders quickly turned on each other.

In the last presidential campaign Gen. Fonseka was the main challenger against Rajapakse and lost the race bitterly. During his campaign Fonseka announced in all of his public meetings that he will arrest, punish and jail president Rajapakse and his family as soon as he comes in to power.