Mirusuvil massacre- Petition against presidential pardon by Gotabaya fixed for consideration

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Fundamental Rights (FR) petitions filed against the presidential pardon granted to former army officer Sunil Ratnayake, who was on the
death row over the Mirusuvil massacre, has been fixed for consideration on January 15, 2025, by the Supreme Court.The petitions seek to
invalidate the decision taken by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to pardon former army officer Sunil Ratnayake, who was convicted of the
murder of 8 civilians at Mirusuvil in Jaffna in December 2000 and was sentenced to death in the year 2015.The relevant petitions were filed
by the family members of the victims of the Mirusuvil massacre, the Centre for Policy Alternatives and the former Commissioner General of
the Human Rights Council of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Ambika Satkunanathan.However, the court also granted time for the respondents of the petitions
to file objections.On June 25, 2015, he was found guilty for the killing of 8 civilians in Mirusuvil and sentenced to death by the Colombo
arrested in the village of Mirusuvil
They were subsequently murdered and buried in a mass grave, about 16 miles east of Jaffna town.The Attorney General had filed charges
against 5 army soldiers in connection with the incident.When the case was taken up, the court sentenced Staff Sergeant Sunil Rathnayake to
death as sufficient evidence had proven the allegations against him
However, the other 4 soldiers were acquitted as there was insufficient evidence to link them to the murders.In 2020, then President Gotabaya