05 February 2014 :

A committee has been appointed in Sri Lanka to make recommendations to free prisoners who have been on death row for several years. Over 424 prisoners are serving the death sentence and are awaiting the outcome of the committee recommendations. Secretary to the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms, G. S. Withanage said that a decision is yet to be taken by the committee on who will be freed. He added that the committee is considering the cases and studying their files to reach a conclusion. The committee consists of Ministry Secretary Withanage and the Prison Commissioner General.