Colombo. Sri Lanka's Supreme Court on Friday summoned 74-year-old former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had pardoned a soldier convicted of killing eight Tamils, exactly five months after the Supreme Court in a landmark judgement overturned Gotabaya's pardon of one of his close political aides facing the death penalty.

Supreme Court issued summons

This was the first such verdict since the imposition of presidential rule in the island country in 1978. The President has the power to grant pardon under Article 34 of the Sri Lankan Constitution. The Supreme Court has issued a summons regarding the pardon granted by Rajapaksa to soldier Sunil Ratnayake in 2020.

Sunil was convicted of killing eight Tamils, including a child, in Mirusuvil in northern Jaffna district during an armed conflict with the LTTE in 2000. Gotabaya, who was ousted in mid-2022 after massive protests in the country, will have to answer the court about his decision to pardon Sunil in response to a fundamental rights petition. The next hearing of the case will be in September.

Ordered to appear with Gotabaya

The court has also ordered Sunil to appear with Gotabaya. On January 15 this year, the Supreme Court overturned the pardon granted by Gotabaya to a close political ally Duminda Silva. Duminda was convicted for the 2011 murder of a local political rival in his own party, Bharat Lakshmana Premachandra. The pardon granted by the President was challenged by relatives of Bharat Lakshmana. Duminda returned to jail after the pardon was overturned.