The possibility of imposing the death penalty for drug-related offences was discussed at a meeting of the “Ratama Ekata” (A Nation United) National Steering Council held at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday morning, the President’s Media Division said.
The meeting was chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The council was told that the wealth generated through drug trafficking has built a criminal ecosystem that now threatens the national economy, the tourism industry and the country’s social fabric — a problem that has grown well beyond individual drug use. Participants discussed the need for stronger laws to deter trafficking and associated crime.
President Dissanayake said eradicating narcotics would require both practical enforcement and a rapid shift in public attitudes, and called for the active involvement of religious leaders, parents and community organisations.
Narcotics and bail amendments near gazetting
The meeting was informed that amendments to the laws governing narcotics control and the granting of bail have been drafted and are in their final stages. They are expected to be gazetted shortly before being presented to Parliament.
Officials said the issuing of Government Analyst reports — long a bottleneck in narcotics prosecutions — has been significantly accelerated, with 6,414 reports issued in July alone.
To speed up cases involving inmates held up by forensic delays, the President instructed officials to introduce a classification system based on the quantity of narcotics seized, including categories such as below five grams and below ten grams. He also directed the Government Analyst’s Department, police and the Department of Prisons to coordinate more closely so suspects are produced in court as soon as reports are received.
Measures to expand the Government Analyst’s Department were reviewed, with officials noting that assistance from the Sri Lanka Navy is being used. The President further instructed that funds be allocated for surveillance camera systems.
Rs. 255 million in prison damage
The council was told that recent unrest at the Negombo, Mahara, Magazine, Pallansena and Kuruwita prisons caused property damage exceeding Rs. 255 million — the first aggregate figure across all five facilities. The Department of Prisons separately put the Negombo damage alone above Rs. 100 million earlier on Monday.
The meeting also discussed expanding the role of psychiatric professionals inside prisons to reduce violent and disruptive behaviour among inmates.
Context
Sri Lanka retains capital punishment in law but has observed a moratorium on executions since 1976, and no prisoner has been put to death in that time. Courts continue to impose death sentences for the gravest offences.
The discussion comes as the government’s drug crackdown puts mounting pressure on the prison system. A parliamentary oversight committee heard on the same day that only 1,506 of 4,962 inmates convicted of drug offences are in rehabilitation programmes, and Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara has tied recent prison disturbances to overcrowding driven by the crackdown.
Separately on Monday, the Archdiocese of Colombo said it does not support the death penalty, calling capital punishment inadmissible under Catholic teaching — a statement issued in the context of the Easter Sunday attacks case rather than drug policy.
Update — August 11: no final decision, government says
The government has not reached a final decision on imposing the death penalty for drug trafficking, Cabinet Spokesman Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said at the weekly Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday.
Jayatissa said the proposal had been raised by certain parties during the steering council’s discussion of drug trafficking and organised crime, and was one of several suggestions put forward. No final conclusion or consensus has been reached on it, he said.
The government would consider the proposal further before deciding how to proceed, the minister added.
Sources: NewsFirst, Ada Derana, Daily Mirror, Hiru News, Ada Derana — no final decision, August 11.
