‘National day of mourning’ for any move against Death penalty - President | Daily News

‘National day of mourning’ for any move against Death penalty - President

‘Will never allow criminals and drug smugglers to destroy our younger generation’

If a Bill is brought in Parliament for the abolition of the death penalty, that day would be declared a national day of mourning, President Maithripala Sirisena declared yesterday at a public function in Embilipitiya.

He said that the day this Bill is presented in Parliament, would be the day that the country is handed over to the drug barons, underworld gangsters and rapists.

The President was speaking at a function for the presentation of land deeds to 5000 families in the Mahaweli settlements in Embilipitiya yesterday.

He remarked that a few persons in the Government were trying to bring a Bill in Parliament aimed at abolishing the death penalty. Such attempts will make the drug smugglers and criminals victorious, he argued.

“I will never allow criminals and drug smugglers to destroy the future of our younger generation. Every effort is being taken to eradicate the drug menace in the country,” the President said. He insisted that his decision to end the moratorium on the death penalty will never be reversed.

The programme of granting land deeds to Mahaveli settlers commenced in 2016 on the instructions of the President, addressing a long-standing problem of the Mahaveli settler population. The target of granting ownership of Mahaveli land to all Mahaveli farmers has now reached its final stage, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

Accordingly, 46,609 land deeds and permits were issued in Mahaweli B zone, 47,808 in the C-Zone, and 5,305 in the D-Zone, 22,537 in the H-zone and 14,372 in the L-zone, the PMD reported. In addition 4,848 lands in Victoria, 5,167 in Huruluwewa zone, 9,463 in Moragahakanda, 43,718 in Walawa area and 5,854 in Rambaken Oya have been issued, according to the PMD.


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