• Catholic Church wants Prez-Govt. to make ‘apt’ decision  
• Deputy Min. Jayasekera denies any impact 

Major General Aruna Jayasekera (Retired) functioning in the post of Deputy Defence Minister, could impact the credibility of the investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks, the Catholic Church stated, urging President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Government to make an 'appropriate' decision on the matter.

Several Opposition Parliamentarians have recently called for Jayasekera to be removed, claiming that since he was the Army’s Eastern Commander at the time of the attacks, his current role could influence the related investigations. 

However, when the allegations were made in the Parliament, the Government front bench stated that there was no reason to remove the deputy minister from his role. 

When contacted by The Daily Morning regarding their position on the matter, the Spokesperson for the Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Father Cyril Gamini Fernando said that the Church too believes that Jayasekera’s role as a Deputy Minister could affect the investigations. “We also feel that there is an issue here. The investigations are not handled by his ministry — they are being carried out by the Police and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which come under a different minister (Public Security). But still, he’s serving as a Deputy Minister, and it can have an impact,” Fr. Fernando pointed out. He emphasised that the Government and the President should pay attention to the issue, saying: “The President and the Government should give this some thought and take an appropriate decision. When he (Jayasekera) is serving as a Deputy Minister, it’s natural for people to feel that there could be some influence on the investigations. Then there is a question about the credibility of the investigations."

Referring to a statement made by Jayasekera in the Parliament, where he said that certain military intelligence officers were involved in the said attacks, Fernando said that it should be determined whether Jayasekera was unaware of this during his time in command in the Eastern Province. “As the (Eastern) Commander, did he not receive any information? These matters need to be investigated. I remember him saying that he gave a statement to the CID. The investigations should move forward based on that. Only after the investigations can we know if he had any connection or not,” Fr. Fernando observed.

When contacted by The Daily Morning, regarding the assertion made by Father Cyril Gamini Fernando, Deputy Minister Jayasekera responded stating that “there is no impact (on the investigations)”.

The Minister of Public Security, Ananda Wijepala recently said in the Parliament that there is no need for Jayasekera to resign to ensure a fair probe into the Easter Sunday terror attacks as the investigations are carried out by the Public Security Ministry. On the same day, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya also said in the Parliament that the investigations would be carried out in a credible and transparent manner. 

On 21 April 2019 Easter Sunday, three churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo were targeted in a series of coordinated suicide bombings. Later that day, another two bomb explosions took place at a house in Dematagoda and the Tropical Inn Lodge in Dehiwala. More than 270 people excluding the bombers were killed in the bombings, including about 45 foreign nationals, while at least 500 were injured.