Death sentence of 60 prisoners commuted

The death sentence of 60 prisoners will be commuted to life imprisonment on February 4 parallel to the 69th National Independence Day.

The Justice Ministry issuing a press release yesterday stated that President Maithripala Sirisena has given the approval for it following a recommendation by Justice Minister Dr.Wijayadasa Rajapakshe.

The Commissioner General of Prisons has been informed of this decision.

The minister had made this recommendation as of a report of an expert committee he appointed to look into the commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment.

The Committee was headed by retired Supreme Court Judge Nimal E.Dissanayake and included Attorney General’s Department Additional Solicitor General Wasantha N Bandara, Colombo University Social Sciences Department Prof Siri Hettige and Consultant Psychiatrist Neil Fernando, Sri Jayawardenapura University Criminology Department Senior Lecturer Udaya Kumara Amarasinghe and Prisons Commissioner General G.H. Dharmadasa.