Freedom for 1,000 prisoners

Prison Commissioner General of Sri Lanka P.W. Kodippili has said that 1,000 prisoners will be pardoned to mark this year’s 65th Independence Day.

He has said the prisoners who were convicted of minor offences and jailed for not being able to pay fines would be released today.

The Prison Commissioner has directed the heads of 33 prisons throughout the country including the two main prisons, Welikada and Bogambara, to submit lists of prisoners eligible for pardon.

Prisoners other than those serving sentences for rape, child molestation, robbery, Customs offences, terrorism, and 27 other offences, are eligible to be pardoned on Independence Day.

According to the Commissioner General, prisoners serving a two-year sentence will serve two weeks less while those serving a three-year term of imprisonment will have three weeks less, from their respective terms.