MP Bandarigoda urges prison reforms while opposing death penalty

Parliamentarian Bandula Lal Bandarigoda today (Aug 28) urged for prison reforms citing the implementation of the death penalty as an implausible deterrent in reducing crime rates.

Addressing a media conference, the United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian voiced opposition against the President's decision to re-introduce judicial hangings in a bid to solve the narcotic menace.

"This problem cannot be solved without resolving the loopholes in the law, transforming prisons into rehabilitation Centres, and introducing a mechanism to prevent drug smuggling," MP Bandarigoda said.

He emphasized that most of the people are tempted to commit wrong deeds due to the socio-economic problems faced by them and that such issues faced must be resolved first.

Commenting on his bill to abolish the death penalty, which is yet to be taken up for a vote in Parliament, Bandarigoda refuted claims that he is trying to protect criminals.

"We must control crimes. But is it reasonable to implement such a punishment without resolving the flaws in the entire system?" he queried.

The parliamentarian questioned the accuracy and independence of law enforcement agencies by recalling instances where people had been imprisoned only to be found innocent afterwards.

He also said that it would be unfair to hang only drug convicts who are on a death row while other inmates serving a similar sentence for different offences are exempted from the same punishment.

"There is no method to distinguish who should be receiving the death penalty. If a person is sentenced to death the punishment must be common irrespective of the offence," Bandarigoda urged.

However, he stated that such punishments have not assisted in curbing crime rates in any country.