Sri Lanka frees hundreds of prisoners to mark New Year
The Peninsula
Colombo, Sri Lanka: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe granted amnesty to nearly 800 convicts to mark the traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Yea...
Colombo, Sri Lanka: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe granted amnesty to nearly 800 convicts to mark the traditional Sinhala and Tamil New Year on Saturday, his office said.
The amnesty of 779 inmates followed the release of 1,000 prisoners to mark Christmas.
A prisons official told AFP that a recent spate of amnesties had eased congestion in the island country's still-overcrowded jails.
As of Friday, there were just under 30,000 inmates in Sri Lankan prisons, which were designed to hold around 11,000 people.
This year's celebrations were marred by conflicting timetables announced by an official panel of astrologers assigned to decide on a schedule for traditional ceremonies.
