Ranjan wants new President to restore his civic rights

Colombo , Octomber 1 (Daily Mirror) - Actor-turned-politician Ranjan Ramanayake who was given a conditional pardon by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe for contempt of court in 2022 yesterday said he would make a fresh appeal to incumbent President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to grant him full pardon and to restore his civic rights.

“I will make an appeal to incumbent President Dissanayake shortly, seeking the restoration of my civic rights. The former President pardoned me. Yet my mouth is gagged, preventing me from engaging in active politics. I will be making a fresh appeal to the new President for my civic rights. I feel I will get it as I was not sent to prison for any crime,” he told Daily Mirror.

Submitting an affidavit to the court on August 25, 2022, on the statement made by him outside the Temple Trees in August 2017, Ramanayake admitted that his comment was utterly contemptuous of the Chief Justice and the entire judiciary. In his affidavit, Ramanayake profoundly apologized and sought the forgiveness of the entire judiciary. Further, he sought forgiveness for the derogatory statement he made outside the Supreme Court premises claiming that he would not withdraw the statement he made on August 21, 2017. He also gave an assurance that he would never again, in his entire lifetime, make any statement critical or derogatory of the entire judiciary. He was found guilty of contempt of court in January 2021.

Article 34(1) of the Sri Lankan Constitution empowers the President to pardon an offender convicted of any offence in any Sri Lankan court. When an offender has been sentenced to death, the Constitutional process is as follows: (1) the President shall require the judge who tried the case to make a report; (2) it shall be forwarded to the Attorney-General for his advice; (3) thereafter, the report shall be sent to the Minister of Justice to forward to the President with his recommendation.