President adamant on punishing drug smugglers

Colombo (News1st): President Maithripala Sirisena says that capital punishment will be imposed on drug peddlers despite the objections raised. Making a special statement in parliament, the Head of State stated that illegal narcotics substances such as Marijuana, Cocaine, Hashish, and ICE have spread throughout the country. He noted that during the past one and a half years, he has requested the respective institutions to hand over a list of death row inmates, but it was continuously delayed. He added that during the next two months, they will be able to implement the death penalty based on these reports. The President has made a firm decision to impose capital punishment despite the objections. He noted that it is wrong if human rights organizations appear on behalf of those who engage in criminal activities, drug peddling, and the underworld when steps are taken to eradicate these menaces. The President noted that they deployed Special Task Force personnel to provide security for inmates transferred to the Angunukolapelessa prison in a bid to curb illegal activities happening in the prisons. However, the head of state noted that this action was also questioned by the local human rights commission. Speaking on the topic of judicial appointments, President Sirisena noted that the names of  12 justices that he forwarded were rejected by the constitutional council, adding that the reason as to why they were rejected was neither informed to him nor to those 12 justices. He noted that judges in our judicial system, in magistrate courts, district courts and high courts are despondent because, despite their commitment, their promotions are being rejected without a valid reason. He said that following a statement made by him in this regard, speaker Karu Jayasuriya wrote a 4-page long letter and the letter states that seniority is not considered when promoting judges. The Speaker went onto note that the constitutional council promotes judges based on the talents, skills, and capabilities they possess. The President questioned; "Based on what does the constitutional council determine the talents and the capabilities of the judges?" The President noted that according to what he is hearing these promotions are not being granted citing that these judges are incompetent based on previous court rulings.  The President believes that such actions would create a catastrophic situation in the judicial system of our country. Further, the Head of State noted that the Criminal Investigation Department is successfully carrying out the investigations into the attempted assassination plot against Gotabaya Rajapaksa and himself.  He noted that investigations have been carried out in a swift manner during the first two months after he took over the Police. He added that the final step of the investigation was to record a statement from him and 4 days ago the CID recorded his statement. The President believes that in two weeks the entire country will come to know about this and the report will be handed over to the Attorney General. He believes that the Attorney General will do the needful thereafter.