The Sri Lankan government will seek international assistance in training new executioners, reports AFP, as the government gears towards re-implementing the death penalty.
A reported 47 applicants are being interviewed by the government, with Sri Lanka’s president Maithripala Sirisena stating this week that a date had been set to restart the death penalty.
However, the new recruits will need some foreign assistance, according to an official who spoke with AFP.
“Since there is no living person in Sri Lanka who has carried out an execution, we need to send the new recruits abroad for training,” said the official, who asked to remain anonymous.
“The rope (used for hangings) has not been used at all since it was imported (in 2015),” the official added. “It will have to be tested and certified.”
See more from AFP here.
The latest announcement comes as organisations around the world have slammed plans to reinstate the death penalty, with Amnesty International warning this week that “racial, ethnic or religious minorities, are disproportionately vulnerable to being sentenced to death”.
Sirisena though has been staunch in his stance, pledging that capital punishment will return.
