Colombo/New Delhi: Five Indian fishermen were given death penalty by a Sri Lankan court today for alleged drug trafficking, prompting a response from India that it will appeal to a higher court against the judgement.

The five fishermen, all hailing from Tamil Nadu, were apprehended in 2011 by the Sri Lankan Navy on charges of smuggling of drugs, official sources said. The five Indians are among a group of eight people sentenced to death by the high court in Colombo. They had been arrested on a boat in the seas off northern Jaffna's Delft islet.