Sri Lankan death row inmates protest former MP pardon pardon News of Sri Lanka

Prisoners go on hunger strike in Colombo prison, demanding equal treatment after the president’s controversial pardon.

Around 150 death row inmates in Sri Lanka have gone on hunger strike to demand a change in sentences after the island’s national president pardoned a former legislator who was sentenced to death for election-related killings.

Several inmates protested on the roof of the Colombo capital prison, holding banners demanding equal treatment and bail in their hands, the Associated Press reported on Friday.

“Forgive reputable terrorists and politicians like you,” a banner said in the local script.

Unexpectedly, the former parliamentarian was released on Thursday after being pardoned by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Duminda Silva is a favorite of the Rajapaksa family in power in Sri Lanka and was punished for killing her party’s political rival in an election-related attack about 10 years ago.

The hunger strike called for the transfer of about 150 prisoners sentenced to death for life, Chandana Ekanayake, a spokeswoman for the prison, said.

He said prison officials are in talks with the justice ministry and other government officials to resolve the issue, but did not want to give further details.

Sri Lankan prisons are heavily cluttered with facilities with more than 26,000 inmates in 10,000 capacity.

An unrest related to COVID-19 erupted in one of the prisons last year, killing at least 11 inmates and injuring more than 100 when guards opened fire to control the unrest.

Releasing Silva’s surprise seems to have sparked protest.

The UN human rights bureau said Silva’s case is “another example of condemning and arbitrarily condemning forgiveness that undermines the rule of law and undermines accountability.”

U.S. Ambassador Alaina B Teplitz said in a tweet on Thursday that Silva’s pardon “harms the rule of law.”

Sri Lanka has not hanged a prisoner since 1976, although the courts have imposed the usual death penalty.

Rajapaksa’s predecessor, Maithripala Sirisena, promised to end the moratorium on the death penalty and use it against those convicted of drug crimes.

Prison officials hired two executioners to carry out the hangings, but no one happened during Sirisena’s tenure.