Pakistani convicts in Sri Lanka to be transferred to Islamabad

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have reached an agreement regarding the transferring of 43 Pakistani prisoners, held in Lankan jails on mostly life sentences, to Pakistan where they would serve the remainder of the sentences given by Sri Lankan courts.

Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has made the announcement following a meeting he had with Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan Admiral (retd.) Ravi Wijegunaratne. Interior Secretary Khurram Ali Agha, National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Chairman Lt General Muhammad Munir, and other officials had joined the discussion.

Describing the agreement as a “positive outcome” of diplomatic efforts, Minister Naqvi, according to Pakistani media, added that the arrangements for the return of Pakistani prisoners would be concluded within a few days.

Authoritative sources said that almost all had been sentenced for drug smuggling and narcotics related offences. The transferring of prisoners would take place in terms of an extradition treaty that had been signed with Pakistan in 2004, where the Pakistani prisoners could be transferred to Pakistan jails to serve the remainder of their sentences.