Lanka to execute four drug convicts: Sirisena

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday signed the death warrants to hang four drug convicts, ending a four-decade-long moratorium on the capital punishment in the country.

Sirisena said he was committed to bringing back capital punishment for drug offenders, months after vowing a tougher line on spiralling narcotics-related crime.

The last execution in Sri Lanka was 43 years ago.

"I have signed the relevant documents and forwarded them to the concerned authorities," Sirisena told reporters on Wednesday. He said he treats the drug menace as main problem in the country where over 60 per cent of the island's 24,000 people in jail are sentenced due to drug addiction.

Drug trafficking is a capital offence in Sri Lanka, which authorities believe is being used by peddlers as a transit hub.

"I will not announce the dates for hanging because it can create problems in the prisons," Sirisena said, adding that "they will be carried out soon".

Sirisena's signing of death warrants have come during the ongoing 'Drug Prevention' week from June 23 to July 1.