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A top Sri Lankan prison official has been sentenced to death over the killing of 27 inmates in an execution-style massacre that attracted international condemnation.
The Colombo High Court on Wednesday convicted Prisons Commissioner Emil Lamahewage, but discharged his co-accused, police commando Moses Rangajeewa, over the killings in November 2012.
The duo was indicted in July 2019 for the killings at Sri Lanka’s main Welikada prison in Colombo. A total of 27 were shot dead, but evidence was gathered in regards to only eight.
Police commandos were used to put down a riot at Welikada and disarm inmates who had allegedly taken weapons from the armory.