Govt. urged to halt ‘illegal’ presidential pardons
By Shamindra Ferdinando The government is coming under pressure from civil society organisations to formulate a clear ‘mechanism’ to deal with requests for presidential pardons. Representing civil society organisations, Gamini Viyangoda yesterday flayed the NPP government for the delay in taking action against Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, after the Supreme Court declared the 2019 […]
The government is facing criticism from civil society groups over the handling of presidential pardons. Gamini Viyangoda, representing such organisations, has condemned the NPP administration for the delay in addressing the case of Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera. This criticism comes after the Supreme Court declared a presidential pardon granted to the monk in 2019 invalid.
Viyangoda argues that successive presidents have abused their executive power to release convicted individuals from prison. The Supreme Court had previously ruled that President Sirisena had acted arbitrarily and lacked independent judgment when granting pardons. In Gnanasara Thera's case, the Court of Appeal sentenced him to six years rigorous imprisonment for contempt of court in 2018.
However, the president pardoned him in May 2019. Viyangoda questions why the public is unaware of the basis for the president's decision to release the monk. The Court of Appeal has now ordered the enforcement of Gnanasara Thera's remaining sentence. He was recently apprehended by the police and remanded in custody by the Colombo Magistrate's Court.
Written by urgent.news from The Island Sri Lanka's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
