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MS pardons his would-be assassin on 1st year in office
View(s):Sivaraja Jenivan never thought he would be able to walk out a free man one day, but it came true when President Maithripala Sirisena granted a presidential pardon on Friday, as he marked his first year in office.
Pix by Indika Handuwala
Jenivan, a onetime Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadre, convicted on charges of attempting to assassinate Mr. Sirisena at an event in 2006, was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment by the Polonnaruwa High Court on July 3 last year, and the sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court.
Jenivan reached his Jaffna home yesterday following his release, and also visited the home of the student who jumped before a Jaffna bound train, urging the authorities to release all the political prisoners.
“I have no words to express my gratitude to the President, except the Pope, nobody else made this kind of gesture in history. If we had a President like him in the past, there would not be a need for war in this country,” Jenivan said in Jaffna.
