1, 299 on death-row in SL prisons

10 January 2019 08:45 am Views - 3804

A total of 1, 299 death row inmates, including inmates who had appealed against their sentence, have been detained in Sri Lankan prisons as of December 31 last year, the Ministry of Justice and Prisons Reforms said yesterday.

It said 1,215 male inmates and 84 female inmates were among them. “Among the 1,299 convicts, 789 male and 34 female convicts had appealed against their sentences,” the Ministry said.

The Ministry said death sentences of approximately 426 male convicts and 50 female convicts have been confirmed.

There have been no executions in the country since 23 June 1976, although death sentences were handed down continuously by the High Court and Supreme Courts for murder and drug trafficking convictions.

However, President Maithripala Sirisena had proposed the implementation of the death penalty on drug traffickers last year.(Darshana Sanjeewa)