22 April 2010 10:59 am
Member of Parliament General Sarath Fonseka said there was an attempt to slap a media censorship on his attendance in parliament today and he will raise this issue at the next parliament session.
Speaking exclusively to Daily Mirror online via telephone after attending the inaugural session of parliament today, General Fonseka said that he had all the right to speak in Parliament and a media censorship on his attendance was a violation of the privileges offered to an MP.
“They want to put me into prison and are trying to remove my present parliament membership. If I have a right to speak as a member of parliament what has the Defence Ministry got to do? That is violating the privileges of a MP. The Defence Ministry is violating the constitution by trying to apply a media censorship on my attendance to parliament,” the General said.
Democratic National Alliance Member of Parliament Vijitha Herath confirming to Daily Mirror online that there was an attempt to slap a media censorship on his party leader’s attendance in parliament today, maintained that that attempt was a violation of the fundamental rights of an MP.
“This move is completely illegal and a violation of media freedom and General Fonseka’s fundamental rights. We will definitely raise this in the next parliament session,” Herath said.
Fonseka further alleged that there were moves by the Defence Ministry to put him into prison thereby removing his membership as a member of parliament.
Meanwhile, when questioned about his health, General Fonseka said that his health was ‘not in good condition’ as doctors were performing minimum tests on him with the limited facilities available within the Navy Headquarters where he is currently being detained.
“I had been getting treatment from certain doctors in the army who knew the background to my injuries and ailments. They have now made sure that those doctors do not come to me but luckily some specialists managed to come last time from the General Hospital. But they (the government) want them to do minimum checks only with the limited facilities available within the Navy Headquarters. They are trying to keep me away from the basic facilities available in other hospitals,” General Fonseka said. (Daily Mirror online)