The investigation into Easter bombs in Sri Lanka calls for the prosecution of the former president

The investigation into Easter bombs in Sri Lanka calls for the prosecution of the former president

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The commission of inquiry said on Wednesday that ‘criminal proceedings’ should be brought against former president Maithripala Sirisena, who left office in November 2019, for ‘criminal liability on his part’ due to the attacks.

On April 21, 2019, suicide bombers launched a coordinated series of attacks on three Catholic churches and three luxury hotels across Sri Lanka, killing 270 people and injuring 500 more.

Shortly after the attacks, the Sri Lankan government conceded that it had failed to act on several warnings from information agencies, including India and the United States.

The commission, set up by Sirisena five months after the attacks, found that the former president was aware of a possible terrorist threat, but ‘went to India from April 16 to April 21 and then Singapore without any acting appointment for the post of Minister of Defense. ”

In its 472-page report, which was handed over to parliament, the commission said there was a criminal liability on its part ‘and ordered the Attorney General’ to institute criminal proceedings against President Sirisena under any appropriate provision in the criminal law. ‘

It is also said that then-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had a “lax approach” to Islamic extremism, which was “one of the primary reasons for the failure”.

“Even after his appointment as prime minister in December 2018, he was not invited by President Sirisena to meetings of the National Security Council,” the report said.

In addition to the former president, the commission recommends criminal proceedings against former defense secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former police chief Pujith Jayasundera, former head of national intelligence Sisira Mendia, and other senior police officers.

Sri Lanka's former president Maithripala Sirisena in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on September 3, 2019.

Nishara Jayaratne, co-ordinating secretary and spokeswoman for Attorney General Dappula de Livera, told CNN: “The Attorney General will take action as soon as a copy of the report is received.”

Sirisena did not respond to repeated calls from CNN to his home in Colombo. A staff member who answered his phone said: ‘He is very busy today and will not take calls. ‘

The then former president admitted at the time that he was ‘for a personal holiday’ abroad when the memorandum of intelligence was warned to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense and police chiefs. But he said he was “not updated or informed of the information they are receiving about the possibility of such a serious attack on our land.”
In the days after the attacks, Sri Lankan intelligence services said they believed the Easter Sunday suicide bombers had clear links to ISIS.
The Sunday School Children: The Little Known Tragedy of the Sri Lankan Easter Attacks
One of the warnings received before the attacks referred to National Tawheed Jamath, or NTJ, a little-known local Islamic group. But at the time, officials did not believe they could act alone.
Reports follow that the perpetrators are from the highest levels of Sri Lankan society. Several were trained overseas, and at least two had ties to one of the richest families in Colombo, with several expensive properties and successful businesses. Two of the suicide bombers belonged to a family of spice traders.
The alleged mentor and main leader, Zahran Hashim, was a radical Islamic preacher known to the authorities and local Muslim community. Weeks before the bombings, India’s intelligence service warned its Sri Lankan counterpart that Zahran was planning an attack on churches and hotels.
The commission found that Zahran, who had blown himself up at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo, “was actually the leader and informed his group members of his intention to personally take part in the suicide attack.”

“The report states that Zahran believed that he was following in the footsteps of Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, who was allegedly the Emir of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Bangladesh. Gulchand Café that killed 29 people,” the commission said.

This story has been updated to correct the death toll due to the Easter bombs in Sri Lanka.

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