<p>Three Tamil rebels imprisoned for trying to assassinate Sri Lanka's first woman head of state were pardoned and released on Monday, according to the president's office.</p>.<p>The trio were serving a 30-year sentence for organising a deadly suicide bombing in the lead-up to the 1999 presidential race, which was during the island's decades-long ethnic war.</p>.<p>Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga survived the attack at her final rally in the capital, but lost her right eye.</p>.<p>Twenty six others, including journalists, were killed in the blast.</p>.<p>President Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said Kumaratunga had agreed to pardon her would-be killers, who had been jailed for 22 years.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/sri-lanka-supreme-court-shoots-down-de-radicalisation-bill-1155325.html" target="_blank">Sri Lanka Supreme Court shoots down 'de-radicalisation' bill</a></strong></p>.<p>"They were released after obtaining her consent," a statement from Wickremesinghe's office said on Monday.</p>.<p>Wickremesinghe was Kumaratunga's main challenger in the 1999 race, which she won after appearing on television with her eye in bandages.</p>.<p>Kumaratunga is also the daughter of the world's first woman prime minister, Sirima Bandaranaike, who won elections in July 1960 nearly a year after her prime minister husband Solomon Bandaranaike's assassination. He was shot dead by a Buddhist monk.</p>.<p>The president's office said five other former Tamil Tigers would also soon be freed from long sentences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).</p>.<p>The controversial legislation, which has been internationally criticised, allows suspects to be detained for long periods without judicial review and convictions based on forced confessions.</p>.<p>After the end of a civil war that claimed over 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009, successive governments have continued to use the PTA to detain political opponents.</p>.<p>More than 75 Tamils arrested under the PTA are thought to still be in prison after serving decades without being formally charged.</p>
<p>Three Tamil rebels imprisoned for trying to assassinate Sri Lanka's first woman head of state were pardoned and released on Monday, according to the president's office.</p>.<p>The trio were serving a 30-year sentence for organising a deadly suicide bombing in the lead-up to the 1999 presidential race, which was during the island's decades-long ethnic war.</p>.<p>Former president Chandrika Kumaratunga survived the attack at her final rally in the capital, but lost her right eye.</p>.<p>Twenty six others, including journalists, were killed in the blast.</p>.<p>President Ranil Wickremesinghe's office said Kumaratunga had agreed to pardon her would-be killers, who had been jailed for 22 years.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/sri-lanka-supreme-court-shoots-down-de-radicalisation-bill-1155325.html" target="_blank">Sri Lanka Supreme Court shoots down 'de-radicalisation' bill</a></strong></p>.<p>"They were released after obtaining her consent," a statement from Wickremesinghe's office said on Monday.</p>.<p>Wickremesinghe was Kumaratunga's main challenger in the 1999 race, which she won after appearing on television with her eye in bandages.</p>.<p>Kumaratunga is also the daughter of the world's first woman prime minister, Sirima Bandaranaike, who won elections in July 1960 nearly a year after her prime minister husband Solomon Bandaranaike's assassination. He was shot dead by a Buddhist monk.</p>.<p>The president's office said five other former Tamil Tigers would also soon be freed from long sentences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).</p>.<p>The controversial legislation, which has been internationally criticised, allows suspects to be detained for long periods without judicial review and convictions based on forced confessions.</p>.<p>After the end of a civil war that claimed over 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009, successive governments have continued to use the PTA to detain political opponents.</p>.<p>More than 75 Tamils arrested under the PTA are thought to still be in prison after serving decades without being formally charged.</p>