The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. D.M.S.B. Dissanayake, a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka at the time of the events, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/180/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 179th session (October 2006),

Recalling the following:

• On 7 December 2004, the Supreme Court sentenced Mr. Dissanayake at first and last instance to two years' rigorous imprisonment, having found him guilty of contempt of court in connection with a political speech he had made on 3 November 2003 in a remote part of the country, disputing the competence of the Supreme Court to give an advisory opinion on a question put to it by the then President of Sri Lanka and stating that his party would not "accept any shameful decision" that the Court might give; the Chief Justice, whose removal on 14 grounds of misbehaviour Mr. Dissanayake and other members of parliament had demanded by motion of 4 November 2003, presided over the panel hearing his case;

• In early February 2006, President Rajapakse remitted the remainder of Mr. Dissanayake's sentence, with the result that he was released from Welikada Prison on 17 February 2006; shortly before that release, acting upon a request from government party members, the Speaker ruled that Mr. Dissanayake had forfeited his seat because he had been absent from parliament for a continuous period of three months without seeking leave; Mr. Dissanayake's subsequent petition challenging the revocation of his parliamentary mandate was dismissed by the Supreme Court, reportedly without a hearing;

• In October 2006 the Secretary General wrote to President Rajapakse on behalf of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, inviting him to grant a pardon to Mr. Dissanayake so as to enable the latter fully to recover his civil and political rights; on the occasion of the Secretary general's visit to Sri Lanka in November 2006 this matter was discussed in Colombo with President Rajapakse, who promised to examine it in a positive light,

Bearing in mind that Sri Lanka is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and is thus bound to respect the right to freedom of speech and to fair trial enshrined in Articles 19 and 14, respectively,

1. Remains deeply concerned that Mr. Dissanayake will be prevented from voting and standing in elections owing to a highly questionable verdict and sentence, neither of which, in violation of basic fair trial standards, is open to judicial review;

2. Reaffirms that, in making the allegedly offending statement, Mr. Dissanayake was merely exercising his freedom of speech, and recalls that both common law jurisprudence and human rights doctrine amply demonstrate that freedom of speech must be the overriding value where contempt of court is concerned;

3. Remains also concerned at the loss of Mr. Dissanayake's parliamentary mandate since the legal pertinence of the relevant decision appears to be in doubt, and refers in this respect to the fact that it was public knowledge that Mr. Dissanayake's absence from parliament was involuntary;

4. Consequently reiterates its call on the President of Sri Lanka to grant Mr. Dissanayake a pardon so as to enable him, if not to resume his parliamentary mandate, at least to vote and stand in elections, thereby redressing the injustice suffered by Mr. Dissanayake as a result of the contempt of court proceedings;

5. Requests the Secretary General to inform the authorities and the sources of information accordingly;

6. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 117th Assembly (October 2007).

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