The United Nations Human Rights Office has dubbed as “selective” and “arbitrary” the presidential pardon granted to a former Sri Lankan MP convicted to life imprisonment for the murder of a fellow politician.

“Presidential pardon of Duminda Silva, a former MP convicted of the murder of a fellow politician, is another example of selective, arbitrary granting of pardons that weakens rule of law and undermines accountability,” the UNHRO said, Daily Mirror reported.

Duminda Silva was set free from the Welikada Prison on Thursday after he received a pardon from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The US has disapproved of the presidential pardon extended to Duminda.

US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina B Teplitz tweeted that the development undermined the island nation’s rule of law.

“The pardon of Duminda Silva, whose conviction the Supreme Court upheld in 2018, undermines rule of law,” Teplitz tweeted.

The former parliamentarian was in jail since 2016 after the Colombo High Court found him guilty for the murder of former MP Bharatha Premachandra and gave him a life sentence.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BAS) has requested Rajapaksa to make the public aware of whether the due procedure was followed when granting a pardon to Duminda Silva.

(SAM)