DELHI - Sri Lanka's president has pardoned a soldier who was sentenced to death for killing eight civilians during the country's civil war, leading to accusations that the government is taking advantage of the chaos from the coronavirus pandemic to free a wartime ally accused of atrocities.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa instructed the Ministry of Justice to release Ratnayake from prison last Thursday . Mr Rajapaksa, who was elected in November, is himself accused of having ordered war crimes during the civil war, when he served as defence secretary.The United Nations called the pardon an"affront to victims" and another example of Sri Lanka's failure to hold war criminals to account.
Amnesty International accused the government of taking advantage of a world distracted by the coronavirus to dodge international condemnation. Ratnayake's trial lasted over a decade, and he was condemned to death after his appeal was rejected by the country's highest court in May 2019. Sri Lanka commutes every death sentence to life imprisonment.
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