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Easter Attack perpetrators being protected: Catholic Church

01 Aug 2021

  • Follows Maithri’s ‘no action against me’ statement
  • Says probe must go beyond Hemasiri, Pujith, and Sisira 
BY Buddhika Samaraweera Claiming that there is a politically influenced conspiracy underway to protect some of those responsible for the Easter Sunday terror attacks, the Catholic Church has warned that it would organise massive protests in the near future if the Government fails to carry out a proper investigation into said terror attacks. The Catholic Church made these remarks following former President and incumbent Maithripala Sirisena’s recent statement that he did not expect the current Government to file lawsuits against him over the Easter Sunday terror attacks. Commenting on Sirisena’s statement, the National Catholic Centre for Social Communications Director and the Parish Priest of the St. Anne’s Church, Kurana, Negombo Rev. Cyril Gamini Fernando alleged to The Morning yesterday (1) that Sirisena was very confident in making that statement, and further claimed that some discussion may have taken place in that regard. “Sirisena made that statement with a lot of confidence. It shows that there has been some discussion about that,” he said. Speaking to the media in Galle on 29 July, Sirisena said that he did not expect lawsuits to be filed against him in connection with the Easter Sunday terror attacks. Asked by reporters if the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) under his Chairmanship would step down from the current Government if a case would be filed against him, he said he does not expect such a situation to arise. Fernando also said that there was serious suspicion that the Attorney General’s (AG’s) Department and other relevant agencies were not carrying out their duties properly in connection with the investigations into the Easter Sunday terror attacks. “Why don't relevant institutions, including the AG’s Department, investigate all the matters mentioned in the final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the Easter Sunday attacks, such as those about Sirisena? Through all these facts, it is clear to us that these institutions, which are supposed to function independently, are being politically influenced,” he alleged. Adding that the Catholic Church has received information that there are plans to conclude the investigations into the Easter Sunday terror attacks by filing cases only against the former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former Inspector General (IGP) of Police Pujith Jayasundara, and former Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) Sisira Mendis, Fernando emphasised that the AG’s Department and other relevant authorities should issue an immediate clarification regarding this matter. “We have received information that there are plans to prosecute only Fernando, Jayasundara, and Mendis, despite all the recommendations made by the PCoI in its final report. If the investigations are going to be concluded without investigating matters pertaining to Sirisena and others, the AG’s Department and other relevant authorities should immediately explain it.” Speaking further, he said that the people had been waiting patiently for more than two years in the hope that justice would be served to the victims of the terror attacks. He, however, warned that when the people lose patience, neither they, the religious leaders, nor the Government would be able to control them and that the people would definitely come out and protest. Warning the Government of possible series of protests demanding justice for the Easter Sunday terror attack victims, Fernando said that as religious leaders, they too would have to organise the people to protest in the near future demanding justice for the victims, which would be a series of protests, according to him, bigger than the ongoing protests of teachers and principals these days. He added that the present Government should be held fully responsible if it happened one day. Adding they had sent a lengthy letter to the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 12 July  urging to enforce the law against all those involved in the Easter Sunday terror attacks, Fernando said that they had not even received an acknowledgement from the Presidential Secretariat in that regard. He also said that there is a serious suspicion as to why the institutions, including the Presidential Secretariat, are acting so carelessly on such a serious matter. The Catholic Church has also initiated discussions regarding getting into some international actions, seeking justice for the terror attack victims. Fernando said that in addition to possible protests, there is a serious discussion going on about starting an international process calling for justice for the victims of the Easter Sunday terror attacks in the future. On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches (St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade, and Zion Church in Batticaloa) and three luxury hotels in Colombo (Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury, and Shangri-La) were targeted in a series of co-ordinated Islamist terrorist 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 267 people were killed in the bombings, including at least 45 foreign nationals, and at least 500 were injured. All eight of the suicide bombers in the attacks were Sri Lankan citizens associated with National Thowheed Jama’ath (NTJ) founded by the suicide bomber at Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zaharan alias Zaharan Hashim. The PCoI into 21 April 2019 terror attacks on Easter Sunday, in its final report, has recommended to the AG that criminal proceedings be instituted against former President Sirisena under appropriate provisions of the Penal Code for his failure to appoint an Acting Defence Minister when the former left for Singapore on a private tour on 16 April 2019. The report was handed over to the Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on 23 February 2021. The PCoI has also mentioned about former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe not being invited to the National Security Council (NSC) by Sirisena. The Report states that Wickremesinghe was not attending the NSC following Sirisena’s decision to remove him from the post in October 2018. It also states that Wickremesinghe was not invited by Sirisena to the NSC, even after he re-assumed duties as Premier. The PCoI states that there is no justifiable reason for Sirisena not to invite the former Premier to the NSC. In addition to Sirisena and Wickremesinghe, the PCoI has recommended that criminal charges be filed against Fernando, Mendis, Jayasundara, former Director of State Intelligence Service (SIS) Senior Deputy Inspector General (SDIG) of Police Nilantha Jayawardena, and SDIG Nandana Munasinghe.  


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