UNP too opposes restoring death penalty

The UNP said yesterday that it was against the reintroduction of the death penalty and would inform President Maithripala Sirisena of its position at the next Cabinet meeting.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, addressing a ceremony, to inaugurate a water supply project in Moneragala, said that all political parties except the SLFP had expressed their opposition to the 43-year moratorium on capital punishment being lifted, as proposed by Sirisena.

“The UNP is against the reintroduction of the death penalty and it would be conveyed to President Sirisena at this week’s Cabinet meeting,” Wickremesinghe revealed.

The President announced last week that he had signed warrants to execute four convicted drug dealers on death row. But, he also said that the convicts could appeal to him.

(Source: The Island – By Zacki Jabbar)