14th January 2020 19:37:22 Hours
Here follow contents of two Media Releases, issued by the Ministry of Defence on above subjects on 14 January 2020:
"A grace period to hand over illegal firearms held without valid permits or documents has been announced today (14) by the Defence Ministry from February 5 to 12. Following directives of the Defence Secretary Major General (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne, the amnesty has been announced to collect all illegal firearms during the week-long amnesty.
The Defence Ministry has requested those who are possessing firearms to hand over them to the nearest Police station during the amnesty period, The Police have been instructed to take legal action against those who have failed to hand over unauthorized weapons to the Police during the amnesty. This decision has been taken to ensure public safety and curb threats posed by such weapons.
People are encouraged to use this opportunity and hand over such illegal firearms without delay. Authorities expect to take stern action against those, found to be holding or using illegal firearms once the grace period is over. Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry is requesting the public to provide information about those who keep illegal firearms in their possession after the amnesty."
Meanwhile, "a week-long general amnesty has been declared to Tri-Forces absentees, enabling them to receive discharge or to rejoin and continue their national service to the country.
A press release of the Defence Ministry states that the general amnesty period has been declared under the directions of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and will be in force for seven days commencing from February 5, 2020.
This measure has been taken with the intention to provide an opportunity for Tri-Forces personnel who had served the nation under difficult circumstances facing numerous hardships and had left their respective services without following proper procedures. This general amnesty is offered only to Tri-Forces absentees who have been marked absent without leave (AWOL) before September 30, 2019. (Ends) latest Running | UOMO, SCARPE
