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AFP
Colombo
Sri Lanka’s president said on Wednesday he has signed death warrants for four condemned drug offenders to become the first people to be executed on the island in decades “very soon”.
Maithripala Sirisena said he has completed formalities to end a 42-year-old moratorium on the death penalty which he has said is needed to clamp down on a rampant narcotics trade.
“I have signed the death warrants of four. They have not been told yet. We don’t want to announce the names yet because that could lead to unrest in prisons,” Sirisena said.
An official said the president wanted the hangings to be a powerful message to the illegal drugs trade.
Colombo
Sri Lanka’s president said on Wednesday he has signed death warrants for four condemned drug offenders to become the first people to be executed on the island in decades “very soon”.
Maithripala Sirisena said he has completed formalities to end a 42-year-old moratorium on the death penalty which he has said is needed to clamp down on a rampant narcotics trade.
“I have signed the death warrants of four. They have not been told yet. We don’t want to announce the names yet because that could lead to unrest in prisons,” Sirisena said.
An official said the president wanted the hangings to be a powerful message to the illegal drugs trade.
