Petition filed in Court of Appeal against implementing death sentence in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, a writ petition has been filed in the court of appeal, seeking an interim order preventing implementation of the death sentence while prisons department has assured that there won’t be any execution till one week. 

An individual in his petition stated that the President has announced that he has signed execution warrants for four death row prisoners and that the death penalty is a serious violation of human rights. 

The court issued notice to the Commissioner General of Prisons following which the latter gave an undertaking that the death penalty will not be carried out within the next 7 days. The court decided to further hear the matter on Tuesday. 

Meanwhile, President Maithripala Sirisena said that he had an over-the-phone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres last night where he explained the reasons for implementing the death sentence in Sri Lanka. 

Speaking during a function on Friday, he said that the death penalty should be implemented on drug traffickers in order to safeguard the future of the country and future generations from the illegal drug racket. 

The President said that he signed death warrants for four convicted drug offenders and that all those who speak against it are helping the drug racketeers.

President decision has come under criticism from several western nations and human rights organizations as Srilanka has not carried out any executions for past 42 years. 

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