Sri Lanka says it is still considering ways to release the five Tamil Nadu fishermen who were sentenced to death for drug trafficking.
“The process is being discussed at the highest levels and the issue is being looked at from all angles. A decision may be taken in a day or two,” presidential spokesperson Mohan Samaranayake told The New Indian Express on Friday.
“One of the options discussed is a staggered process beginning with the commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment, followed by repatriation to India under the 2010 bilateral agreement on the transfer of sentenced prisoners, and then lastly, setting them free through a presidential pardon,” Samaranayake said.
“The government is considering the judicial aspect too. The appeal filed against the death sentence will have to be withdrawn first, because no decision can be taken on commutation or release, till such time an appeal is pending,”
“The government is also considering the implications of the charge. It is not simple poaching, but drug smuggling,” Samaranayake said.