Sri Lanka has started advertising for hangmen, after the president vowed to resume executions for the first time in four decades as part of a hardline anti-drugs crackdown inspired by the Philippines. Candidates must have "mental strength" and "excellent moral character", according to job ads placed by prison authorities to fill long-vacant positions. Sri Lanka has not hanged any convicts since a moratorium on capital punishment was imposed in 1976, but President Maithripala Sirisena last week announced plans to resume hangings within two months. Criminals in Sri Lanka are regularly given death sentences for murder, rape and drug-related crimes but until now their punishments have been routinely commuted to life in jail. However, President Sirisena is yet to sign a death warrant of a condemned prisoner.

Source: Daily Nation February 12, 2019 11:03 UTC