- Sirisena deposits Rs.15 Mn, Pujith Rs.1.725 Mn, Hemasiri Rs.1 Mn, Sisira Mendis Rs.5 Mn, GoSL/State Rs.1 Mn, nothing from SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena
With only one day to go for the expiration of the deadline set out by the Supreme Court (SC) for several respondents including former President and Defence Minister and incumbent Opposition Parliamentarian Maithripala Sirisena to pay compensation sums amounting to Rs. 311 million to the victims of the Easter Sunday terror attacks and their families, only about Rs. 24 million (Mn) has been deposited to the relevant account as of yesterday (10), The Daily Morning learned.
The Office for Reparations is maintaining the Fund to which the respondents including Sirisena, former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara, former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director and incumbent Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG - Administration) Nilantha Jayawardena, former Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former Chief of National Intelligence Sisira Mendis, and the Government/State of Sri Lanka (GoSL) should deposit the relevant sums of compensation, on or before tomorrow (12).
When contacted by The Daily Morning to inquire about the situation regarding the receipt of the relevant sums, a senior official of the Office said that the Fund had received Rs.23.725 million as of yesterday. According to him, Sirisena, who was ordered to pay Rs.100 million has deposited Rs.15 million, Jayasundara, who was ordered to pay Rs.75 million has deposited Rs.1.725 million, Fernando, who was ordered to pay Rs.50 million has deposited Rs.01 million, Mendis, who was ordered to pay Rs.10 million has deposited Rs.5 million, and the Government/State has deposited the total compensation sum of Rs. 1 million that it was ordered to pay.
Despite him having been ordered to pay Rs.75 million as compensation, Jayawardena has not deposited any amount to the Fund, as of yesterday.
The senior official of the Office said that they had already informed the SC of the compensation sums that it had received thus far, while another communication would be made to the SC when the deadline expires tomorrow. In response to a query by The Daily Morning, he said that the SC would make the necessary decisions for the failure of the respondents to settle the complete compensation sums.
Delivering the judgment with regard to a total of 12 Fundamental Rights petitions filed by several parties, the SC, on 12 January, 2023, held that Sirisena, Fernando, Jayasundara, Jayawardena and Mendis had violated the fundamental human rights by not preventing the Easter Sunday terror attacks. The SC also ordered them to pay compensation to the victims of the attacks with Sirisena being ordered to pay the highest sum of compensation, Rs. 100 million.
The Office had established the Fund with effect from 19 January, 2023 at the Bank of Ceylon (BOC), Rajagiriya Branch, under the Account Number 0090167960, and the title ‘Easter Attack April 2019 – Victim Fund’ to which the relevant respondents should credit the compensation payments as ordered by the SC.