Former Member of Parliament Mr. Ranjan Ramanayake, who was serving a four-year sentence for contempt of court, left prison a few moments ago after receiving presidential pardon.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, Minister Manusha Nanayakkara and several SJB MPs gathered outside the Welikada prison to welcome him.
This morning, President Ranil Wickramasinghe signed the document granting conditional presidential pardon to former Member of Parliament Ranjan Ramanayake. The President’s Media Division (PMD) said today (August 26) that President Ranil Wickremesinghe signed the conditional pardon document for the imprisoned former Member of Parliament Ranjan Ramanayake.
The head of state has granted presidential pardon to the former member of parliament on the condition that he refrains from making any statement that insults the court. The Secretary of the Ministry of Justice has been assigned to arrange the necessary arrangements for Mr. Ramanayake’s release.
On January 12, 2021, the Supreme Court sentenced Mr. Ramanayake to 04 years of hard labor for a case filed against a defamatory statement he made on August 21, 2017 outside the temple complex.
He was later sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment suspended for 5 years in another contempt of court case filed against him.
Presenting an affidavit to the court yesterday (August 25), Ramanayake officially apologized for his statement.
Ramanayake, who deeply reflected on his statement outside the Araliyagaha Mandir in August 2017, admitted that his statement was a total insult to the Chief Justice and the entire judiciary.
Ramanayake apologized profusely in his affidavit and sought forgiveness from the entire court.
Furthermore, Mr. Ramanayake also apologized for the insulting statement he made on August 21, 2017 at the Supreme Court premises saying that he would not withdraw his statement.
The PMD added that he gave an assurance that he would never again make a critical or derogatory statement about the entire judiciary in his entire life.