5 Indian fishermen released in Sri Lanka after presidential pardon

COLOMBO: Five Indian fishermen sentenced to death in Sri Lanka for alleged drug trafficking were released today after President Mahinda Rajapaksa pardoned them.

Prison officials said the five have been handed over to the immigration authorities for further action.

"We is pleased to confirm that five Indian fishermen, who were sentenced to death by the Hon'ble Colombo High Court on October 30, 2014, were today released from prison for being sent back to India," an Indian High Commission statement said.

"We are deeply grateful to His Excellency Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka, for this humanitarian gesture, which will further strengthen the strong and multi-faceted relations between India and Sri Lanka," it said.

"President Mahinda Rajapaksa issued a presidential pardon for them," Presidential spokesman Mohan Samaranayake said.

"We would like to thank President Mahinda Rajapaksa for remitting the sentence of five Indian fishermen and release them from jail," Indian High Commissioner Y K Sinha told PTI.

Sinha met the five fishermen after their release to ascertain their well being.

He said the High Commission is arranging for ensuring return of the five Indians as soon as possible.

Rajapaksa's move to pardon the five comes less than a week before the SAARC summit in Nepal which will be attended by him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Emerson, P Augustus, R Wilson, K Prasath and J Langlet, all hailing from Tamil Nadu, were apprehended in 2011 and were sentenced to death by the Colombo High Court on October 30 for alleged drug trafficking.

The court ruling had triggered fiery protests in parts of Tamil Nadu and sporadic violence broke out in and around Rameswaram island as a large number of people staged protests.

India on November 11 had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka against a verdict of the high court awarding death sentence to them.

Rajapaksa and Modi had a telephonic conversation last week on the issue.

The issue of fishermen is a very emotive matter for both Sri Lanka and India, where Tamil Nadu-based parties including AIADMK and DMK have been regularly pressing the government to take up the matter with the Lankan authorities seriously and have often resented high-profile visits from the island nation.