A Sri Lankan politician sentenced to demise on homicide prices was sworn in as a member of the nation’s Parliament on Tuesday, escorted out of jail to take his oath amid jeers from opposition legislators.
The lawmaker, Premalal Jayasekara, was convicted in late July of opening fireplace on an election rally in 2015, killing an opposition activist. However the conviction and demise sentence have been handed down simply days after Mr. Jayasekara had filed papers to run for re-election. Then his social gathering swept to victory.
The choice to enable Mr. Jayasekara to conduct his parliamentary duties as a member of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna social gathering is the newest episode to unnerve opposition politicians and activists since Gotabaya Rajapaksa gained the presidential election final November.
The president is an element of the Rajapaksa political dynasty, which is mired in scandal, accused of quite a few human rights abuses and corruption prices when it dominated Sri Lanka from 2005 till 2015. The household has dismissed the accusations as false, and half of a political marketing campaign to discredit them.
In the course of the household’s final stint in energy, Mr. Rajapaksa served as protection secretary and his brother, Mahinda, was the president. Their authorities was accused of war crimes rising out of the final offensives against Tamil Tiger rebels, in which the United Nations estimates that as many as 40,000 civilians were killed. It was also accused of extrajudicial killings and the persecution of journalists, activists and political opponents.
But to their supporters, the Rajapaksas are war heroes who defeated a ruthless insurgency and ended their country’s bloody civil war, which lasted 26 years. When Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the presidential elections last fall, he promptly appointed his brother as prime minister.
On Tuesday, as Mr. Jayasekara walked on to the legislature’s floor for his swearing-in ceremony, opposition parliamentarians wore black shawls to mark the death for which he was convicted.
“Shame!” they chanted.
A member of the ruling party offered a different view.
“Victory!” he declared.
The opposition walked out of the chamber in protest as Mr. Jayasekara was sworn in.
Addressing Parliament in a voice that shook with emotion, he said he had been framed and requested a new investigation and trial.
“I know in my heart that I am innocent,” Mr. Jayasekara said.
He charged that the political opposition had framed him for the 2015 killing, as part of a larger plot to discredit him and his colleagues.
Opposition members pushed back.
“The intention of our protest today was that convicted murderer who was sworn in by the speaker, which we found unacceptable,” said Eran Wickramaratne, a member of an opposition party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya.
“He was convicted — he has appealed, but he was convicted,” Mr. Wickramaratne said.
Mr. Jayasekara was barred by the court from attending Parliament’s first session, on Aug. 20. But he filed a petition in the Court of Appeal for permission to attend Parliament and represent his district, the southern city of Ratnapura. Mr. Jayasekara has represented Ratnapura in Parliament since 2001.
The Court of Appeal ruled that despite his conviction, Mr. Jayasekara retained his rights as an elected lawmaker. It suggested that the speaker of Parliament decide whether to let him attend legislative sessions and cast his vote.
The speaker, also a member of the ruling party, ruled in favor of allowing Mr. Jayasekara to attend. Now, he will be escorted from prison every time the legislature meets.
Namal Rajapaksa, the minister of sports and the son of Sri Lanka’s prime minister, expressed his support for Mr. Jayasekara’s presence.
“In allowing Hon. Premalal Jayasekera to take oaths and attend #parliament the speaker of the home has not violated the Structure,” Mr. Namal tweeted. “The choice was made in line with the judgment given by the courtroom of enchantment just a few days in the past.”
