President pardons Swedish teen’s killer

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s president has pardoned a death-row prisoner who murdered a Swedish teenager just a week before he leaves office, officials said yesterday, in a move that sparked national outrage.

Convicted killer Jude Jayamaha, from a wealthy, high-profile family, walked out of Welikada prison on Saturday following the highly unusual amnesty granted by President Maithripala Sirisena.

Mr Sirisena, who is stepping down after Saturday’s presidential election in which he is not running as a candidate, announced last month that he was considering a request to grant Mr Jayamaha a pardon.

Victim Yvonne Jonsson, who was holidaying in Sri Lanka, was beaten to death at a high-rise apartment in Colombo in 2005 after she and Mr Jayamaha had an argument.

The court had been told her skull was fractured into 64 pieces.

Mr Jayamaha was initially sentenced to 12 years in prison. He appealed to a higher court, which rejected his plea and instead sentenced him to death, which was reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in 2014.

Jonsson’s sister Caroline wrote in a Facebook post about her concerns over Mr Jayamaha’s pardon before the amnesty announcement.

“He showed and continues to show absolutely no remorse for what he has done,” she wrote.

“We’ve worked hard to rebuild our lives and here we are, going into 15 years and still fighting for justice. Unfortunately, it seems now that we have to prepare ourselves for the worst possible outcome, the pardon of my sister’s murderer.”

Many Sri Lankans took to social media to condemn Mr Sirisena.

“Monstrous act by a failed president,” said a Twitter user identified as Thass.

“This news makes me sick,” added Shamila Cooray.

Others speculated Mr Sirisena may have pardoned Mr Jayamaha to test the water ahead of possibly pardoning another high-profile death-row inmate whose family owns radio and television stations that support him.

Mr Sirisena failed to secure support from his own party to contest the Nov16 election and must leave soon after results are declared, a day or two after the polls.