Sri Lanka prisoners demand freedom after Swede’s killer pardoned

COLOMBO: Hundreds of inmates at Sri Lanka’s biggest high-security prison staged a second day of protests Tuesday, demanding their freedom after the president pardoned a well-connected man convicted of brutally murdering a Swedish teenager. Jude Jayamaha, convicted of killing Yvonne Jonsson in Colombo in 2005, walked free on Saturday following the highly unusual pardon granted by President Maithripala Sirisena, whose term in office ends this weekend. Police said around 1,000 prisoners had refused on Monday to return to their cells at Welikada prison in Colombo, while four inmates had clambered onto the prison’s roof.An official said police commandos were standing by outside with orders to move in if necessary. There were reports of a similar protest at another prison in the south of the island. The prisoners are demanding their release on the same terms as Jayamaha, who hails from a wealthy Colombo family with political connections.