President Mahinda Rajapaksa will offer presidential amnesty to nearly 2,000 military deserters held at Welikada shortly. He is also expected to grant a general amnesty to deserters on the run.


This follows Justice and Law Reforms Minister Milinda Moragoda making representations to the President and Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapksa.


Well informed sources said that Moragoda’s proposal had been accepted by the President in consultation with the Defence Secretary.


Sources said that this move wouldn’t bring any relief to those who had been arrested on various other charges including armed robbery and murder.


Over 2,000 deserters are serving sentences for leaving their units at the height of the war. In a bid to discourage desertions, the army over the past few years has court-martialled hundreds of officers and men but in vain.