President to consider a formal request to pardon ex-Army commander

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said yesterday that he would consider a formal request to pardon the jailed former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka if such a request is presented to him properly.

Meeting with the newspaper editors yesterday, the President said it would be a futile attempt to seek his release through the presentation of one million signatures or making request to the International community.

He said that several persons have met him to discuss a pardon and secretary of the National Democratic Alliance Tiran Alles also discussed the matter with him.

The opposition United National Party (UNP) recently launched a campaign to collect one million signatures to get the jailed Army commander released.  However, the family of the jailed Army commander has not made any formal requests to the President or to the Justice Minister yet.