President to deport five Pakistani death row inmates
Posted on August 23rd, 2018
Courtesy Ceylon Today
President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday said he will soon initiate talks with the Government of newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, to extradite five Pakistani nationals who are on top of the death row list.
President Sirisena, who was addressing people in Jaffna, said the drug menace is not only restricted to the North or the East, but is a massive problem affecting all in the country.
Therefore, I will not hesitate to go ahead with the decision to impose the death penalty on those already found guilty of possessing or trading drugs. I also told the authorities to impose the maximum possible penalty on those who are even caught with drugs in their possession,” he added.
Sirisena also said apart from the five Pakistanis, the next in line is a woman.
“I am determined to carry out the death penalty for serious drug offenders and I will start with a list (of 18) given to me by the prisons,” he said.
International rights groups and the European Union have asked Sri Lanka to reconsider, since Sirisena announced last month that he wanted to end the moratorium on hanging. Police believe Sri Lanka is being used as a transit point by drug traffickers. More than a tonne of cocaine seized in recent years was destroyed by Police in January.
According to AFP, official figures show there were 373 convicts on death row in Sri Lanka, including the 18 drug offenders, as of last month. Death sentences are still passed for crimes including murder, rape and drug-related offences, but the last execution was in 1976. Nearly 900 people are in prison after being sentenced to death, although many have had their sentences commuted to life or are appealing.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:49 pm
ENFORCE the LAW against Sri Lankans AND Foreigners, and EXECUTE those on DEATH-ROW guilty of LARGE-SCALE DRUG DEALNG!
If we don’t ENFORCE the Law, the Law will LOSE its Power of DETER the CRIMINALS and DEFEND the CITIZENS.
And SOON, Sri Lanka will descend into CHAOS like Bolivia, Venezuela and Mexico now run by drug king-pins and spawning MASS EXODUS of their hapless citizens as REFUGEES to foreign countries!
PROTECT Law-Abiding CITIZENS and PUNISH the Law-Breaking Criminals before it is TOO LATE!
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:37 pm
Shameless!
So the death penalty is enforced selectively. Muslims are given a different set of rights. What a shame! As things are, the death penalty will not be carried out and that seals the fate of Sri Lanka.
Ananda is spot on in this observation.
Quote – And SOON, Sri Lanka will descend into CHAOS like Bolivia, Venezuela and Mexico now run by drug king-pins and spawning MASS EXODUS of their hapless citizens as REFUGEES to foreign countries!
It has been happening since 2011 as far as I know. People, particularly the youth, are frustrated. Even Sinhala girls, some as young as 20 from middle class families (let alone poor families) are making their way to foreign countries to do whatever work they can find.
This is very unpopular among conventional thinkers but Sinhalese need a nation of their own no matter how small it is. A place to call home. At the moment we have none. It will not change no matter who wins the next election.
August 23rd, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Isn’t this creating a precedent?. If a unpatriotic dual citizen from UK or Canada commit a crime like this and if their other government request them to be sent their citizen what will GOSL do?. When a former Indian was found guilty of this crime in Indonesia they did not hesitate to impose the death penalty. This shows how weak is our prez.