Ratwatte made the announcement at the inaugural meeting of the Justice Ministry Consultative Committee in the parliamentary complex on Saturday. Minister Ratwatte said that there were 28,951 inmates in 28 prisons across the country. A Cabinet paper had been submitted by the Justice Ministry to re-introduce a four-year pardon scheme which had not been in practice for nearly 20 years. Justice Minister Ali Sabry said those convicted of drug offences should be rehabilitated instead of being incarcerated. State Minister Ratwatte and 14 MPs including Weerasumana Weerasinghe, Charles Nirmalanathan, Diana Gamage, M. S. Thowfeek, Udayana Kirindigoda, Madhura Vithanage, S. Kajendran, Sudath Manjula, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, Sagara Kariyawasam were present at the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Justice chaired by Minister Sabry.

Source: The Nation December 08, 2020 00:00 UTC