With rampant crime the time is right

The re-introduction of the death penalty is a crying need in Sri Lanka. If clemency is recommended along with the verdict or at an appeal this may be considered appropriately but the death penalty needs to be enforced otherwise.

The death penalty is accepted to be a deterrent. It drives one to think before taking another’s life. Deadly crimes planned well ahead and efficiently executed demonstrate that life sentences are no threat to reprehensible criminals.

Protests launched by organizations such as Amnesty International, based abroad, indicate their lack of awareness of gangster killings, rapes followed by repulsive murders, contract exterminations and drug trafficking that accompany homicides–awful crimes that have grown rampant in a one time relatively calm country.

The death penalty alone can stifle such horrendous crimes. Considering the ever-spiraling crime rate and overwhelming incidence of dastardly murders the gallows are an imperative need. They should be used and not be in disuse.

Ninety-nine percent of the people yearn for peace and harmony and condemn violence and premeditated heinous crime. They expect the government to protect their children and them and their hard-earned property from murderers and homicidal maniacs.
It is indeed time that the death penalty be re-introduced. There should not be any delay. The President and the Government will receive the gratitude of almost all, particularly of the poor and honest, for this timely and firm action.

By Lakshman Siriwardhana, Piliyandala