The Sri Lankan government hired two new hangmen last week, after calls for the abolition of the death penalty on the island.
Though the role has been described as “light administrative work”, Prisons Commissioner General Rohana Pushpakumara said "in the event the government wants to carry out executions, we should be prepared".
One of the 14 applicants interviewed last week as a former Sri Lankan soldier. "I'm angry at drug traffickers, murderers and those who rape children, so I will not hesitate a moment if I am asked to execute them," he said. "If they are not implementing the death penalty then I will quit."
Sri Lanka’s President Maithriapala Sirisena stated last month that he was expecting to approve capital punishment on the island by next year but, though he did not have to, would seek parliamentary approval first.
See our earlier posts:
Justice minister says capital punishment will not be scrapped in Sri Lanka (12 Oct 2015)
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