Sri Lanka maintains a moratorium on death penalty until March 2020

<p>Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has decided to postpone a decision on the use of the death penalty to execute four drug offenders until 20 March 2020.</p> <p>This decision was reached today after the court heard a petition from NGOs, human rights groups, and Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission who are challenging the demands of the former President Maithripala Sirisena.&nbsp;</p> <p>Sirisena has previously vowed to implement the death penalty to execute&nbsp;drug offenders before he left the office and has consistently called for the use of the death penalty despite human rights concerns.</p> <p><strong>Read more here:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/sri-lankan-president-vows-use-dea…">Sri Lankan President vows to use death penalty before leaving office</a></strong></p> <p>Read Colombo Page’s reporting <a href="http://www.colombopage.com/archive_19B/Dec09_1575871573CH.php">here</a>.</p>