Easter bombings investigation in Sri Lanka asks ex-president to be prosecuted

Easter bombings investigation in Sri Lanka asks ex-president to be prosecuted

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The commission of inquiry said on Wednesday that “criminal proceedings” should be brought against former President Maithripala Sirisena, who stepped down in November 2019, for “criminal responsibility on his part” for 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 wounding 500 others.

Shortly after the attacks, the Sri Lankan government admitted that it did not act on the basis of several warnings from intelligence agencies, including India and the United States.

Instituted by Sirisena five months after the attacks, the commission found that the former president knew of a possible terrorist threat, but “went to India and then to Singapore from April 16 to 21, without making any interim appointment to the post of Ministry of Defense. ”

In its 472-page report, which was handed over to Parliament, the commission said “there is criminal liability on its part” and recommends the attorney general “to consider prosecuting President Sirisena under any provision. penal code “.

He also said that then-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had a “negligent approach” towards Islamic extremism, which “was one of the main reasons for the failure”.

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

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

Former Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in Colombo, Sri Lanka on September 3, 2019.

Nishara Jayaratne, coordinating secretary and spokesman 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 made to her home in Colombo by CNN. An employee who answered the phone said: “he is very busy today and will not answer calls”.

The former president at the time acknowledged he was abroad “for a personal vacation” when intelligence memos warning of a possible terrorist act were sent to the Sri Lankan defense ministry and police chiefs. But he said that “it has not been updated or notified with the information it has received about the possibility of such a severe attack on our soil”.
In the days following the attacks, Sri Lanka’s intelligence services said they believed that Easter Sunday’s suicide bombers had clear links to ISIS.
Sunday school children: the little-known tragedy of the Easter attacks in Sri Lanka
One of the warnings received before the attacks referred to the National Tawheed Jamath, or NTJ, a little-known local Islamic group. But the authorities at the time did not believe that they could have acted alone.
There followed reports that the perpetrators came from the upper levels of Sri Lankan society. Several were educated abroad and at least two had connections with one of Colombo’s wealthiest families, with several expensive properties and successful businesses. Two of the suicide bombers belonged to a family of spice traders.
The alleged mentor and leader, Zahran Hashim was a radical Islamic preacher, known to the authorities and the local Muslim community. Weeks before the attacks, India’s intelligence service warned its Sri Lankan counterpart that Zahran was planning an attack on churches and hotels.
The commission concluded that Zahran, who blew himself up at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, “was indeed the leader and that he informed members of his group about his intention to personally participate in the suicide attack”.

“The report states that Zahran believed he was following in the footsteps of Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, who was allegedly the Emir of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Bangladesh. Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi Canadian allegedly planned the attack in Dhaka in July 2015 at the Gulchand Café that killed 29 people, “the commission said.

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

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