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 High Court.
The murders occurred on 19 December, 2000 when eight internally displaced refugees returning to inspect their property were 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 Rajapaksa pardoned and released Ratnayake.