Abolishing death penalty is victory of drug dealers, criminals: Sirisena

It will be a day of national mourning the day Sri Lankan government will adopt a parliamentary motion to ban capital punishment, President Maithripala Sirisena said on Sunday.

Addressing a gathering in the north central province, Sirisena said

he would not allow the drug dealers and criminals to ruin the future of the country's children.

He stressed that every step would be taken to combat the drug trafficking and will not reverse his decision to implement the death penalty.

"The day when the government is set to adopt a parliamentary motion banning capital punishment will be a day of national mourning. The government will be the toast of drug dealers, murderers and criminals, he said.

Sirisena last month signed the death warrants to hang four drug convicts.

It would have been the first time that convicts would have been hanged in Sri Lanka since June 1976 as it maintained a 43-year moratorium on capital punishment.

However, earlier this month the country's Supreme Court stayed until .