COLOMBO -- Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena granted amnesty to 526 inmates Monday on the occasion of the Christmas, an official said.

Prisons Commissioner H.M.T.N. Upuldeniya told Xinhua that these 526 inmates were in jail for minor offenses.

Upuldeniya said special religious celebrations were also organized within the premises of the prisons throughout the country to mark the Christmas.

Christians account for seven percent of Sri Lanka's total population, mainly concentrated in the western coastal belt of the country.

Sri Lanka is in the habit of granting such pardons in respect of events of national significance such as the New Year, the National Independence Day and the Buddhist festival Vesak.

The president has the constitutional power to grant full pardon to inmates or commute their sentences.