By Buddhika Samaraweera
Claiming that the Catholic church could not believe that justice would be served for the victims of Easter Sunday terror attacks of 21 April 2019 under the present Government or the Attorney General’s (AG’s) Department, Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said that they would have to wait and see for justice to be served under a Government that would come to power in the future.
Speaking at an event in Colombo via video technology last Saturday (19) he said: “It is very clear that we cannot keep confidence in the current Government or the AG’s Department. Therefore, we have a feeling that we would have have to wait and see if justice would be served for the Easter Sunday terror attacks even under a future Government.”
The Archbishop also said that although a group of Islamist extremists were directly behind the said terror attacks, he had evidence of intelligence and senior police officials who were well aware of the possibility of a terror attack. He further claimed that the Government and current AG President’s Counsel (PC) Sanjay Rajaratnam are, however, concealing the evidence presented before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) which investigated the Easter Sunday terror attacks, with regard to such officials.
“We have evidence that the intelligence and senior police officials were aware of the attack. This is clearly mentioned in the PCoI’s final report. Such evidence has now been hidden by this Government and the AG. We have sent letters requesting the relevant volumes of the PCoI’s report, but both the previous and current Governments have ignored our requests and taken steps to hide the evidence,” he claimed.
Speaking further, Cardinal Ranjith said: “The PCoI’s report clearly states that legal action should be taken against certain individuals, especially heads of state, high-ranking intelligence, and police officials for not having prevented the terror attacks. However, that is not happening, because of the misconduct of the AG and AG’s Department.”
The Archbishop further charged that the incumbent Government had not fulfilled any of its promises to do justice to the Easter Sunday terror attacks, and has, instead promoted senior intelligence and police officials who did not prevent the bombings, adding that such acts of the Government have made the country’s law a joke.
“Certain high-ranking intelligence and police officials who are responsible for not having prevented this terror attack have even been given promotions and the law has been ridiculed through it. I directly blame the present Government for that. Furthermore, the relevant agencies are said to have taken steps to prosecute some individuals who were indirectly involved in National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) Leader Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zahran alias Zahran Hashim’s group, but we do not know whether those cases are being carried out properly.”
Recalling that the Catholic church had taken steps to calm the Catholic community in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday terror attacks, the Cardinal said that they were able to prevent a dangerous situation by doing so. In such a situation, he said that the Catholic church was of the belief that they would be supported by the government agencies, intelligence agencies, and the Police to serve justice to the victims.
“It is very sad that the Government and the AG’s Department are washing their hands in the face of our people’s sighs, tears, and pain. From the day Sri Lanka gained independence, there was a programme of political leaders to systematically attack the law, the brotherhood of the country, and the spiritual values. What we experience today is a result of that programme. Therefore, we must work to change this system. Otherwise this country will sink further and the people will become more and more helpless,” he added.
On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches (St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade, and Zion Church in Batticaloa) and three luxury hotels in Colombo (Cinnamon Grand Colombo, The Kingsbury Colombo, and Shangri-La Colombo) were targeted in a series of co-ordinated 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 269 people excluding the bombers were killed in the bombings, including about 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 NTJ.
Later, a PCoI was appointed to investigate the Easter Sunday terror attacks, and in its final report, the PCoI made several recommendations, including the filing of criminal charges against former President and incumbent Government Parliamentarian Maithripala Sirisena, former Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, and former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara, who were acquitted from all charges against them by the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar last week, as well as former State Intelligence Service Director Nilantha Jayawardena, former National Intelligence Chief Sisira Mendis, and several others.
However, most of the recommendations made by the said PCoI have not yet been implemented. As a result, several parties including the Catholic church have been insisting on the need to implement the PCoI’s recommendations.
Courtesy: The Morning