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Cardinal to decide on Easter protest on 19th

31 Mar 2021

The Archbishop’s House of Colombo would reach a final decision by 19 April on whether it would engage in further protest action regarding the alleged denial or delay of justice meted out to victims of the Easter Sunday terror attacks, The Morning reliably learnt. The future course of action would be confirmed by Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith on 19 April, following the handing over of the report by the Ministerial Committee appointed to study in depth the recommendations contained in the final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into the Easter Sunday bombings and the report of the Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security, to the President. The Morning also learnt that commemoration and prayer services are planned to be held on 21 April, in light of the two years that have passed since the terror attacks. In a statement on 29 March, the “Archdiocesan Committee for Justice to Easter Sunday Attack Victims” has said that it urges politicians, both of the Government and the Opposition, to refrain from actions that may obstruct the independent and free implementation of the judicial process.  They also called to bring before the law all who have been directly and indirectly connected in the crime, including the investigation of all those who had a connection with the mastermind of the attacks Zahran Hashim, during the latter stages of the conflict in the North East. Furthermore, they have expressed their wish to see the prosecution of the politicians who had neglected their duty to prevent the bombings and had called for the urgent proscription of Islamic extremist groups and the banishment of Islamic preachers who spread extremism through hate speech. “It makes us wonder as to whether there is any external interference that hampers the efficiency of these institutions,” the statement further said while questioning as to why the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and other intelligence agencies cannot yet find the culprits of this crime. The six-member Ministerial Committee to study in depth the recommendations in the final report of the PCoI into the Easter Sunday attacks has finished the compilation of its own final report regarding the implementation of the PCoI report and would hand it over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa today (31).


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