Sri Lanka’s President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has released 286 male prisoners and four female prisoners under a presidential pardon during the Vesak festival, which commemorates the death of the Buddha.
Those released were arrested on minor charges and included those over 65 years old. They remained imprisoned due to an inability to pay their fines. The prisoners released were from 30 prisons across Sri Lanka.
The government has maintained measures against social distancing and have arrested those attending temples and providing aid to vulnerable Tamil communities in the North and East who are reportedly on the "brink of starvation". These pardons follow a string of controversial pardons including those for Sergeant Sunil Rathnayake who was convicted for the Mirusuvil massacre where eight Tamil civilians were killed including three children. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara, a hard-line nationalist Buddhist accused of intimidating human rights activists, was also pardoned. Shramantha Jayamaha, was pardoned over the murder of a teenager. These recent pardons are concern raised by human rights groups such as Amnesty International
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