COLOMBO • Sri Lanka s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has pardoned a murderer closely linked to the ruling Rajapaksa family, even as 16 men linked to the Tamil Tiger rebels were also pardoned.
The pardon of the rebels last Thursday is a first for people connected with the Tigers since Mr Rajapaksa came to power in 2019 on a nationalist agenda, which included a promise that troops who crushed the rebels would not be prosecuted.
The 16 men were convicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) that gives security forces sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects. The United Nations Human Rights Council and other international rights groups have called for it to be repealed.
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