Sri Lanka: After Presidential pardon, 5 Indian fishermen to return to India

The five Indian fishermen – Emerson, P Augustus, R Wilson, K Prasath and J Langlet – will walk back free to India to their families, according to reports. Sri Lanka government had sentenced the five to death over drug smuggling case.

According to a report in the NDTV, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajpaksa commuted the death sentence for the five and they were handed over to Indian officials. The five fishermen will be released once the formalities are completed.

“They were given a presidential pardon and transferred to the custody of immigration authorities to be sent back home,” presidential spokesman Mohan Samaranayake told AFP.

The move followed diplomatic pressure to free the men and allegations in India that they were framed because they were poaching in Sri Lankan waters.

Drug convictions carry a mandatory death sentence, which is almost always commuted to life in prison. Sri Lanka has not carried out an execution since 1976.

According to a report in Zee News, an information and technology official confirmed that President Rajapaksa wanted India to withdraw the appeal because any delay on that front would drag the case for over six months, delaying presidential pardon. The five Indians had withdrawn their appeal last week, clearing the way for a presidential pardon.

Fishermen from the two countries often stray into each others’ waters, creating a thorny issue for Colombo and Delhi.

Authorities in India’s Tamil Nadu state have repeatedly accused Sri Lanka’s navy of harassing their fishermen and urged Delhi to take firm action against Colombo.

Sri Lanka denies the charges, and says Indian fishermen regularly stray into Sri Lankan waters and deprive local fishermen of their livelihood.

The two countries are separated by a narrow strip of sea known as the Palk Strait, which is also a rich fishing ground.

During the height of Sri Lanka’s separatist war in the island’s northeast, close to southern India, fishing provided a cover for lucrative smuggling of arms and fuel to the rebels.

Sri Lankan authorities say smugglers are now bringing narcotics into the island for shipping to other destinations.

Being hailed as a major diplomatic victory for the Modi government, the release of the Indian fishermen will be a giant step for good bilaterals between the two nations. The move also comes as a victory for the political parties in Tamil Nadu who have been fighting for the same cause.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa are scheduled to meet each other during the SAARC summit which will be held in Nepal sometime next week.

The five, hailing from Tamil Nadu, claim that they are innocent and were framed.

The case dates back to 2011 when the five fishermen set out to fish from Rameswaram and were apprehended by the Sri Lankan Navy on the charge of possessing narcotics.

With inputs from agencies