The UNP said the material pertaining to the US investigation into the Easter Sunday attacks, which in its entirety is available with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Justice Department, must be made available to the judicial authorities in Sri Lanka.
Issuing a statement on the investigation into the Easter Sunday attacks, the Party queried as to whether the Government, which has restarted the investigation, made an application to the US Government for this material, and if so, what has been the reply, and if not, why the Government has not done so.
“On 21 April 2019, following the Easter Sunday attacks, the then Prime Minister (incumbent UNP Leader) Ranil Wickremesinghe requested a full investigation and a report by the US Government into the attacks, as the Sri Lankan investigative agencies did not have the adequate expertise.
Premier Wickremesinghe assured the full cooperation of the Sri Lankan authorities. Subsequently, on 22 April, during a phone call between Wickremesinghe and US President Donald John Trump, a similar request was made. Trump posted, ‘Spoke to Wickremesinghe this morning to inform him that the US stands by him and his country in the fight against terrorism’.
The FBI carried out a full investigation into the attacks, in collaboration with the Sri Lankan authorities including the Criminal Investigation Department, the Military Intelligence and the State Intelligence Services. On the basis of all the information recorded and the material collected, a report was issued by the FBI to the Sri Lankan Government.
This was accepted by all the relevant authorities in Sri Lanka. On 12 November 2020, FBI Special Agent Merrilee R. Godwin filed a 71-page affidavit in the US District Court for the Central District of California. Following a two year investigation, a criminal case was filed on 11 December 2020, in the US District Court in Los Angeles.
The defendants named in the complaint (Mohamed Naufar, Mohamed Anwar Mohamed Riskan, and Ahamed Milhan Hayathu Mohamed), along with other suspects linked to the attacks, were already detained in Sri Lanka at the time of the filing of the case,” the statement read.