By DPA,
Colombo: Sri Lanka’s former army commander General Sarath Fonseka, who was elected to parliament on an opposition ticket, said Thursday he was a victim of unlawful detention and called for safeguards in democracy.
Fonseka, who is under military custody on allegations of conspiracy against the government and is facing two court martial trials, said at the inaugural session of parliament that it “should ensure freedom from unlawful detention”.
“Parliament should also ensure that democracy is safeguarded, human rights are protected and the freedom of movement is ensured,” said Fonseka, who was elected as a candidate for the Marxist-backed Democratic National Alliance.
“I have been subject to injustice,” Fonseka said before being escorted back to detention at the navy headquarters.
The ex-army chief was arrested Feb 8, less than two weeks after he unsuccessfully challenged President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the presidential elections.
Earlier Thursday one of Rajapaksa’s brothers was selected as the new speaker of parliament, a day after official results confirmed a solid victory for the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA).
Chamal Rajapaksa, 67, the president’s older brother and a former minister of ports and aviation, was unanimously elected in the inaugural session.
The president’s younger brother, Basil, his son Namal and cousin Nirupama Rajapaksa are also among the 144 UPFA parliamentarians in the 225-seat assembly.
The elections were held April 8, but due to a re-poll in two districts following allegations of malpractices the final results were released only Wednesday.
Rajapaksa’s UPFA obtained 60 percent of the vote while the main opposition United National Party (UNP) led by former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe received only 29.3 percent.
The UPFA is six members short of having a two thirds majority in the 150 seat parliament, but two UNP members have already announced their decision to support the government.
Prabha Ganeshan and Palani Digambaram, from the Tamil ethnic minority said that they have decided to support the government because they had differences with the UNP.
The cabinet of ministers are due to be sworn in Friday and President Rajapaksa has vowed to keep the Cabinet below 40 members. This was in contrast to the 58 members he had in the previous cabinet.
The UPFA won by the biggest margin since 1977. The victory was largely seen as a vote of appreciation for Rajapaksa for ending the 26-year-old civil war against the rebel group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).