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Easter attacks culprits still in politics: Cardinal

02 Aug 2022

BY Buddhika Samaraweera Claiming that the Catholic Church's demands for justice for the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 21 April 2019 have not yet been addressed, Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith stated that the persons identified as responsible for the said terror attacks are still engaged in their political activities and hold positions in the Police. Speaking at an event in Colombo on 30 July, he stated: “On 21 April 2019, 267 people were killed by bomb attacks on Catholic churches and hotels. To date, justice has not been served for that. That is the power of these powerful people. We should be ashamed. There is no law in our country. There is no room for the law. Instead, there is lawlessness. It is the law of the powerful that is being implemented in the country.” He added that the Catholic Church has requested the relevant authorities on numerous occasions to conduct an independent investigation into the Easter Sunday terror attacks and to prosecute those identified as responsible, but none of those requests have been fulfilled. Claiming that the law has not done anything against them, the Archbishop said that to date, those persons who are living freely, are engaged in their political activities and are still holding positions in the Police. Meanwhile, making a statement on 18 July, then-Acting President and current President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that he plans to obtain the assistance of the police authorities of the UK in order to complete the investigation into the said terror attacks, as the lack of a proper investigation has meant that the issue is yet to be fully resolved.  “One problem is the question we all are having about the Easter Sunday attacks. None of those procedures have been finalised yet. I am dedicated to resolving these problems. We don’t need to continue with these problems forever. We must ensure that this is brought to an end, and for this, there should be a full scale, impartial review of the material that is available. If everyone is willing, I would like to get the help of the UK and their police authorities. They are the best that we can find. In addition to the people from Sri Lanka who will be working on this issue. It is the responsibility of the Government to finalise this matter without any further delay,” he said. On Easter Sunday, 21 April 2019, 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 (the Cinnamon Grand, The Kingsbury, and the Shangri-La) were targeted in a series of coordinated 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, while at least 500 were injured. All eight of the suicide bombers in the attacks were Sri Lankan citizens associated with the National Thowheed Jama’ath movement founded by the suicide bomber at the Shangri-La Hotel, Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zahran alias Zahran Hashim.  


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