Convicted MP says he was framed by political opponents

• Says he is being punished for crime he did not commit
• Claims political opponents in previous Government framed him
• Calls for better treatment for prisoners

SLPP MP Premalal Jayasekera yesterday claimed that he was framed for the murder for which he was convicted by the Ratnapura High Court, and hinted that his political opponents in the District were behind it.

“I can say with a clear conscience I have not committed any crime. There was a conspiracy against me hatched by my political opponents in the previous Government, and I am being punished for a crime I did not commit,” Jayasekera said in Parliament after he took oaths as a MP.

Jayasekera said he has served the people of Ratnapura conscientiously, and has not taken a cent from public money in all his years in politics.

The MP, who was brought to Parliament from prison, also spoke on the poor conditions in jail, saying that the words written on the outer wall of the Welikada prison stating, “Prisoners are human too” is confined to just the words on the wall.

“I am not saying this because I am in prison, but there are people who have not committed any crime who are locked up, while others are kept in extremely poor conditions. They can’t sleep as rats are running all over them. They have no access to toilets after five in the evening, when the cells are locked up. These are things the Minister in charge of prisons should look into,” he said.