Sri Lanka today freed 858 convicts to mark the most important day in the Buddhist calendar. Prison commissioner Asoka Hapuarachchi said President Mahinda Rajapakse granted freedom to 13 women and 845 men held at 29 prisons across the country to commemorate Vesak, which marks Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. Hapuarachchi said the released were those convicted for minor offences and some who had already served much of their long sentences. Sri Lanka's most high-profile convict, former army chief and the defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka, was not among those released. Fonseka is currently serving a 30-month sentence after a court martial found him guilty of irregularities when he was army chief.