Amnesty to surrender weapons and for AWOL

Colombo (News 1st): A grace period to hand over illegal firearms held without valid permits or documents was announced by the Defence Ministry. The period would be from the 05th to the 12th of February. Following the directives of the President, a weeklong the amnesty was announced to collect all illegal firearms. The Defence Ministry requested those possessing firearms to hand over them to the nearest police station during the amnesty period. Police have been instructed to take legal action against those who failed to handover the unauthorized weapons to the Police during the amnesty. A statement from the Defence Ministry said this decision was taken to ensure public safety and curb threats posed by such weapons. The Defence Ministry requests the public to provide information about those who keep illegal firearms in their possession after the amnesty. At the same time, A week-long general amnesty was declared for Tri-Forces absentees, enabling them to receive a discharge or to rejoin and continue their national service to the country. A press release issued by the Defence Ministry states the general amnesty period has been declared under the direction of His Excellency the President Gotabaya, Rajapakse and will be in force for seven days in concurrent to the 72nd Independence day commencing from February 5th, 2020. This measure was taken with the intention to provide an opportunity for Tri-Forces personnel who had served the nation under difficult circumstances facing numerous hardships and had left their respective services without following proper procedures. This general amnesty is offered only to Tri – Forces absentees who have been marked absent without leave (AWOL) before September 30, 2019.