Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has suspended the pardon of Rajapaksa ally and convicted murderer, Duminda Silva, and ordered for his arrest by the Criminal Investigation Department.
Silva was formerly sentenced to life in prison from 2016 after the Colombo High Court convicted him for involvement in the murder of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra and three of his supporters during local elections in Colombo in 2011.
Responding to the verdict, Premachandra’s daughter Hirunika Premachandra stated,"I am very pleased that the court has demonstrated its independence”. She went on to claim that it was a "historic” decision, telling AFP “no one has challenged a presidential pardon before". However, previous presidential pardons, such as for Sunil Rathnayake who was convicted over the murder of Tamils have been challenged in the past.
On 24 June, Sri Lanka’s President issued a pardon for Silva. This 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.
#SriLanka: Presidential pardon of Duminda Silva, a former MP convicted of the murder of a fellow politician, is another example of selective, arbitrary granting of pardons that weakens rule of law and undermines accountability.
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) June 24, 2021
The US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina Teplitz, further condemned the move tweeting:
We welcome the early release of PTA prisoners, but the pardon of Duminda Silva, whose conviction the Supreme Court upheld in 2018, undermines rule of law. Accountability and equal access to justice are fundamental to the UN SDGs to which the GoSL has committed.
— Ambassador Teplitz (@USAmbSLM) June 24, 2021
Shortly after he was pardoned, he assumed the position of Chairman of the National Housing Development Authority with the support of the Rajapaksas.
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