Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court summons Gotabaya Rajapaksa over presidential pardon to soldier who killed 8 Tamils

The move comes exactly five months after the apex court in a landmark ruling overturned a presidential pardon granted by Rajapaksa.

Rajapaksa, ousted in 2022 after a popular uprising, must address the court regarding his decision to pardon Ratnayake in response to a rights petition. (File photo)

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on Friday issued a summons to former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa over his granting of a presidential pardon to a soldier who was convicted for killing eight ethnic Tamils, including a child, in 2000.

The move comes exactly five months after the apex court in a landmark ruling overturned a presidential pardon granted by Rajapaksa, 74, to a close aide who was convicted of murder, in the first such case since the presidential form of governance was introduced in 1978 in the island nation.

Friday’s summon relates to Rajapaksa’s 2020 pardon granted to soldier Sunil Ratnayake, who was convicted of murdering eight ethnic Tamils, including a child, in 2000 in Mirusuvil, in the northern Jaffna district, during the armed conflict with the LTTE.

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Rajapaksa, who was ousted in mid-2022 following a popular uprising against him, will need to respond to the court about his decision to pardon Ratnayake in response to a fundamental rights petition. The next hearing is scheduled for September.

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Ratnayake has also been ordered to appear in court alongside Rajapaksa at the September hearing.

On January 15, the Supreme Court overturned Rajapaksa’s pardon of Duminda Silva, a close political aide who was sentenced to death for murdering a local political rival from the same party in 2011. The pardoning was challenged by the relatives of Silva’s victim Bharata Lakshman Premachandra.

Silva was returned to prison to serve his sentence following the reversal of Rajapaksa’s pardon.

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Under Article 34 of the Sri Lankan Constitution, the president has the power to grant pardons, subject to a stipulated process.

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