Minister of State for Prison Reforms and Prisoners, Lohan Ratwatte said that the Ministry of Justice had submitted a memorandum to the Cabinet seeking a four-year amnesty, if it approved, would release prisoners who have served more than 20 years of imprisonment and reduce the death penalty to 20 years.
He has pointed out at a meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Justice that the four year amnesty has not been implemented for 40 years since 1998.
The Minister said that steps would be taken to release at least 8,000 inmates as soon as possible and that steps would be taken to reduce prison overcrowding.
At present there are 28,951 inmates in 28 prisons across the country. About 10,500 inmates are incarcerated on drug-related offenses, 8,500 of whom are convicted of heroin-related offenses.
Minister Lohan Ratwatte says that the death penalty will be reduced to 20 years in several steps.