Ranjan Ramanayake, the actor turned politician who was recently convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to 4 years in prison has filed a landmark appeal at the Supreme Court on Monday, February 1st.
The petition calls on the Supreme Court to hear Ramanayake’s appeal against his conviction in terms of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act passed by Parliament in 2007. The ICCPR Act Section 4 (2) states that every person convicted of a criminal offence shall be entitled to an appeal by a higher court.
Ramanayake’s contempt of case trial was held at Supreme Court.
The petition cites the petitioner that brought the contempt charges against Ramanayake and the Attorney General as respondents.
The Appeal states that the sentence handed down to Ramanayake was “excessive and disproportionate”.
On the same day lawyers for the popular politician also filed a writ application at the Court of Appeal urging the court to prevent the Secretary General of Parliament from filling Ramanayake’s parliament seat in light of his conviction. The writ application seeks to prevent the Secretary General of Parliament from informing the Elections Commission that Ramanayake’s seat in Parliament was now vacant.
The Writ Application states that Ramanayake’s conviction does not meet the criteria for disqualification to be a MP as laid out under Article 89 (d) of the constitution. (NewsWire)