Premalal makes plea on behalf of all prison inmates

By Saman Indrajith

Ratnapura District SLPP MP Premalal Jayasekara, who took his oath in Parliament, on Tuesday (8), making his maiden speech, thanked the judiciary for considering his writ petition and permitting him to attend Parliament to be sworn in as an MP.

The Opposition MPs walked out in protest as Jayasekera commenced his speech.

He maintained that he was innocent but still imprisoned over a crime he had not committed. The CID had framed him, he claimed.

He however appealed to the Justice Minister not just on his behalf, but on behalf of all prisoners to provide proper sanitary facilities to all inmates of prisons. “At the entrance to the prison there is a slogan on the wall that prisoners are also human. However, as I have experienced, prison cells are closed by around 5.00 pm and unlocked only the next morning. All prisoners in these cells have to use buckets to relieve themselves and this is very unhygienic. Hence, I appeal to the Justice Minister to look into this matter and provide proper sanitary facilities for these prisoners which is a basic human right.”

Jayasekera said that there were around 29,000 inmates in prisons who have not committed anything wrong. Referring to the killing of his brother-in-law, Jayasekara urged the justice minister to re-investigate that incident as the perpetrators had gone scot-free.