Capital punishment; SC extends interim injunction order till Oct 15

The Supreme Court had extended interim injunction order till October 15, issued suspending the enforcement of the decision taken by former President Maithripala Sirisena to execute heroin traffickers sentenced to death by the High Court.

The petitions were taken up for hearing before Supreme Court Judges Murdhu Fernando, S. Thurairajah and Yasantha Kodagoda.

In an event held on World Drug Prevention Day, former President Maithripala Sirisena informed the public that he was prepared to sign the documents to implement the death penalty for four kingpin heroin traffickers in the country.

Accordingly, on June 26, 2019 former President informed that he had completed the formalities to execute the capital punishment for heroin traffickers and the documents have been sent to the prison authorities.

Within this background, 12 petitions have been filed by the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and a group sentenced to death, seeking to prevent the execution of heroin traffickers sentenced to death.(Yoshitha Perera)