The Supreme Court yesterday annulled the Presidential pardon previously granted by former President Maithripala Sirisena to Jude Jayamaha, who was convicted of the Royal Park murder. This decision was based on the ruling that the pardon violated constitutional provisions.

In delivering the verdict, the Supreme Court also declared the pardon granted to Jude Shramantha Jayamaha invalid. Additionally, the court mandated that former President Sirisena pay Rs. 1 million in compensation to the petitioner and Rs. 1 million each to the parents of the young woman who was the victim in the Royal Park murder case.

The court found that Sirisena had deliberately contravened the Constitution with this act, and directed the Attorney General to initiate the necessary legal processes for the extradition of Jayamaha, who is currently abroad, in accordance with local and international laws.

The judgment was issued by a Supreme Court bench consisting of Justices S. Thurairaja, Yasantha Kodagoda, and Janak de Silva, following a fundamental rights petition submitted by the Women and Media Collective.

Jude Shramantha Jayamaha had been sentenced to death for the murder of Yvonne Jonsson at the Royal Park Condominium complex in Rajagiriya in 2005. Initially, he received a 12-year prison sentence in 2012, but this was later escalated to a murder conviction by the Court of Appeal, leading to a death sentence by the Supreme Court. Nonetheless, in 2019, former President Sirisena granted him a presidential pardon.

Later that year, the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration informed the Supreme Court via affidavit that Jayamaha, who had been on death row before receiving the presidential pardon, had left the country. 

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