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Archbishop files CoA writ over Easter failures 

01 Jul 2022

 
  • Cites failure to implement Easter CoI recommendations against key officials including SDIG Deshabandu
  • Promises further legal action to implement CoI recommendations on others implicated in CoI report  
BY Buddhika Samaraweera   Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has filed a writ application in the Court of Appeal (CoA), seeking relief against Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana D. Wickramaratne and Public Security Ministry Secretary S. Hettiarachchi for their alleged failure to implement certain recommendations of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 21 April 2019. Noting that the CoI has made several findings against some of the key individuals who held various positions during the time of the said terror attacks and made recommendations regarding the action to be taken against them, the Archbishop has stated in the application that no such recommendations have yet been implemented. “Recommendations made by the CoI included disciplinary action against several police officers, such as Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) Deshabandu Tennakoon. However, the repeated pleas for accountability, justice, and the implementation of the CoI’s recommendations, from the victims, the Archdiocese, and the Archbishop, fell on deaf ears,” a communication from the Archbishop read.   Among the reliefs prayed for, the writ application filed by Archbishop Ranjith seeks directives from the CoA to the IGP and the Public Security Ministry Secretary, directing them to implement the relevant recommendations of the CoI. Noting that the consistent indifference shown towards ensuring justice for the victims of the said terror attacks by those holding public office is regrettable, the Archbishop stated that further legal steps would be taken towards the implementation of the CoI’s recommendations against other key persons named in its final report, in due course. On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches (the St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, the St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade, and the Zion Church in Batticaloa) and three luxury hotels in Colombo (Cinnamon Grand Colombo, The Kingsbury, and Shangri-La Colombo) were targeted in a series of co-ordinated suicide bombings. Later that day, another two bomb explosions took place at a house in Dematagoda and the Tropical Inn Lodge in Dehiwala. A total of 269 people, excluding the bombers, were killed in the bombings, including about 45 foreign nationals, while at least 500 were injured. Later, the aforesaid CoI was appointed to investigate the terror attacks and the CoI, in its final report, had made several recommendations, including the filing of criminal charges against former President and incumbent MP Maithripala Sirisena, former Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former IGP Pujith Jayasundara, former State Intelligence Service Director Nilantha Jayawardena, former Chief of National Intelligence Sisira Mendis, and several others. However, most of the recommendations made by the said CoI are yet to be implemented. As a result, several parties, including the Catholic church, have been insisting on the need to implement the CoI’s recommendations.


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