SLA declares amnesty to deserted soldiers

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 July 2008, 02:36 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) has declared fourth amnesty this year for the deserted soldiers to return to service before midnight on July 28. Those who fail would be arrested and would be produced in military court and be punished, SLA headquarters said in a release.

Soldiers who fail to return after the expiry of their leave are also requested to report for duty before July 28 midnight, the release stated.

The SLA earlier gave three amnesty periods for the deserted soldiers numbering about 15,000 to surrender. Due to poor response to the earlier amnesty, the SLA decided to grant another amnesty for the deserted soldiers, sources said.