Death row inmates’ hunger strike enters 2nd day in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Around 175 death row inmates in Sri Lanka continued their hunger strike for a second day, demanding their sentences be commuted to life in prison after the country’s president pardoned a former lawmaker who had been condemned for an election-related killing, according to The Associated Press.

Prison spokesman Chandana Ekanayake said top officials from the prison ministry had held in-person discussions with the striking inmates at two prisons, one inside Colombo and one outside, according to The Associated Press.

“Despite being informed on the measures being taken on their demands, they (the prisoners) are continuing their hunger strike and did not take food this evening as well,” Ekanayake said in a statement, cited by AP.

Former MP Duminda Silva’s surprise release on Thursday has drawn widespread criticism, including from the UN human rights office and the US ambassador in Sri Lanka.

He’s widely seen as a favorite of Sri Lanka’s ruling Rajapaksa family, and had been serving a death sentence over the killing of a rival lawmaker from his own party in an election-related attack about 10 years ago.

Sri Lanka has not hanged a prisoner since 1976, although courts routinely pass death sentences.