The committee appointed to recommend a general amnesty for long-term prisoners convened for the first time yesterday.
The meeting was chaired by Retired Court of Appeal Justice Sunil Rajapaksa and was attended by officials of several institutions including the State Ministry of Prison Reforms and Prisoners Rehabilitation and the Prison Medicine Division.
The committee was established by the government with the objective of introducing a formal amnesty system for prisoners who have been sentenced to death and imprisoned for life and those who are serving long prison sentences.
It aims to strengthen prison administration, reduce overcrowding and develop a formal amnesty system for prisoners.
Prison Spokesman Chandana Ekanayake said that the committee members who met yesterday held lengthy discussions regarding the mechanism to be implemented in the future.
