Sajith Premadasa seeks presidential pardon for former UNP MP
03 September 2021
Sri Lankan opposition leader, Sajith Premadasa, is seeking a presidential pardon to release former United National Party (UNP) Parliamentarian, Ranjan Ramanayake.
Ramanayake’s seat in Parliament was suspended in January 2020 following alleged statements he had made against Buddhism and Buddhist monks. He was also accused of conspiring to assassinate Sri Lankan government minister, Mahindananda Aluthgamage, along with former prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe.
According to Colombo Gazette, Premadasa said the former MP “always spoke the truth and stood for justice”.
During the same month, Ramanayake was imprisoned by the Supreme Court to four years for contempt of court. He had allegedly made a controversial statement regarding the composition of the Supreme Court judge bench that was hearing the petitions filed against the President’s dissolution of Parliament in 2018.
See more from Colombo Gazette here and here.
Convicted murderer and former MP Duminda Silva’s presidential pardon and subsequent assumption of duty as Chairman of the National Housing Development Authority was widely condemned, including by the United States and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who highlighted the arbitrary use of presidential power and how it undermined accountability.
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