Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe granted amnesty to 1,004 convicts lodged in prisons across the country, an official told media on Monday.
Most of the freed inmates were convicted for not being able to pay outstanding fines, Prison Commissioner Gamini Dissanayake said.
The island nation's jails are reportedly overcrowded. As per data last week, nearly 30,000 convicts are held in different prisons. However, they can only hold 11,000 convicts.
Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena has conveyed his heartfelt wishes for a merry Christmas to the citizens of his country. He emphasized that Christmas signals a fresh start in the journey towards building an economically prosperous Sri Lanka, overflowing with abundant harvests.
"I wish everybody a joyful Christmas in which we abide by the wonderful lessons of peace, harmony and equality while refraining from animosities, petty squabbles or differentiating between the poor and the rich or due to gender, caste or social status", Gunawardena added.
In May, too, the country released nearly 988 prisoners to mark the island's main Buddhist holiday, Vesak Day.