Minister K.D. Lal Kantha said on Friday that neither President Anura Kumara Dissanayake nor the Government would release Ven. Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera, who is serving a prison sentence.
Speaking to reporters, the Minister said the Government’s mandate was to uphold the rule of law and ensure equality before the law. He said a pardon would violate that mandate and that the President would not take a decision contrary to it.
He said the demand by a group of Buddhist monks for a Presidential pardon could not be fulfilled. “We cannot go against the mandate under any circumstances,” he said.
The monks had put up temporary shelters outside the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. They dismantled the shelters and left the site on Friday, following a court order issued that day.
