Sirisena defends his capital punishment order citing Trump\'s similar views

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has highlighted the importance of imposing capital punishment to prevent crime, saying that even US President Donald Trump has reintroduced the death penalty to execute those convicted of rape and child abuse, according to a media report.

Sirisena in June signed the death warrants to hang four drug convicts, ending a four-decade-long moratorium on the capital punishment in the country.

He drew flak from his countrymen as well as the international community since he passed the order despite Sri Lanka having become a party to the UN moratorium on the death penalty and voting in favour of the moratorium just six months back.

However, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court had in July stayed the execution order passed by Sirisena till October 29.

Highlighting the importance of implementing the death penalty to prevent the proliferation of narcotics, the president said Trump was implementing the death penalty after a period of 16 years, the Daily Mirror reported.

"The biggest issue for the US is child abuse and drugs. The US is the powerhouse of the world. The US which is rich in wealth, power and high technology had to re-implement the death penalty,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

The US government last month announced to resume capital punishment after a gap of nearly two decades and has set execution dates for five death-row inmates convicted of murder.