Petition filed against death penalty; no executions for one week

COLOMBO (News1 st): The Court of Appeal decided to take up a petition filed against the death penalty on July 2nd. The Commissioner General of Prisons gave an undertaking that the executions will not take place for a period of one week from today (June 28). He stated that the death penalty will not be implemented on any of the convicts on death row for a week. He made this statement when a question on the matter was raised by the Court of Appeal judges Yasantha Kodagoda and Arjun Obeysekera. A petition against the implementation of the death penalty was filed at the Court of Appeal today by Malinda Seneviratne. The petitioner seeks for an interim injunction on the order to implement the death penalty issued by the President as the sudden decision of the President to implement the death penalty after a moratorium of 46 years could cause an array of problems. Deputy Solicitor General Nerian Pulle presenting facts on behalf of the government said that he will file the initial objections on the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal to consider the petition.