Sri Lankan President Slammed for Pardoning Teen’s Killer

In a move that has incensed the entire country, Sri Lanka’s outgoing president, Maithripala Sirisena, has pardoned a death row prisoner who murdered a Swedish teenager in 2005.

Jude Jayamaha was sentenced to 12 years in prison after he was found guilty of killing 19-year-old student, Yvonne Jonsson, at the Royal Park apartment complex in the capital, Colombo.

Per reports, Jonsson – whose family lived in the complex – was beaten to death by Jayamaha after they had an argument. Her skull had been shattered into 64 pieces.

Despite an attempt to appeal against his jail term that began in 2012, Jayamaha was sentenced to death instead – a sentence upheld by the Supreme Court in 2014.

However, due to allegedly showing good behaviour after serving seven years in jail, Jayamaha was allowed to walk out of Welikada Prison on Saturday, 9 November, after he was granted amnesty by Sirisena last month.

Sri Lankans have flocked to social media to criticise the president’s decision, with one writing: “Where is the justice for the victim? Shame on you, President Sirisena.”

Sirisena is due to step down from the presidency after the conclusion of the national elections next Saturday, 16 November.

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