The Sri Lankan government interviewed 14 applicants for the post of hangman today, amidst calls for the abolition of the death penalty on the island.
There are two vacant positions said Prisons Commissioner Rohana Pushpakumara, adding that “those selected will have to undergo three weeks training and a medical check-up.”
The interviews come after Sri Lanka’s justice minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said though a moratorium on the death penalty is in place, the decision has not been made to scrap capital punishment.
The European Union recently called for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide and welcomed Sri Lanka’s stand on the moratorium.
Sri Lanka’s President Maithriapala Sirisena stated last month that he was expecting to approve capital punishment on the island by next year but, though he did not have to, would seek parliamentary approval first.
