Investigation into Easter bombings in Sri Lanka calls for prosecution of the former president

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The commission of inquiry said on Wednesday that “criminal charges” should be brought against former President Maithripala Sirisena, who left office in November 2019, for “criminal liability 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 in Sri Lanka, killing 270 people and injuring 500 more.

Shortly after the attacks, the Sri Lankan government admitted that it had not acted on multiple warnings from intelligence agencies, including from India and the United States.

Founded by Sirisena five months after the attacks, the commission found that the former president was aware of a possible terrorist threat, but “left for India from April 16 to April 21 and then Singapore without any appointment to the post of Secretary of Defense. . ”

In its 472-page report, which was presented to Parliament, the committee said that “there is a criminal liability on his part” and recommends that the Attorney General “consider” criminal proceedings against President Sirisena. on the basis of an appropriate provision in the criminal code.

It also said that then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had a “lax approach” to 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 meetings of the National Security Council, the report said.

In addition to the former president, the committee recommended criminal proceedings against former defense minister 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, 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 from CNN to his residence in Colombo. A staff member who answered his phone said, “He is very busy today and will not be taking calls.”

The former president acknowledged at the time that he was abroad “on a personal vacation” when intelligence memos warning of a possible terrorist act were sent to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense and police chiefs. But he said he had “not been made aware or made aware of the information they had received about the possibility of such a serious attack on our soil.”
In the days following the attacks, Sri Lankan intelligence services said they believed the Easter Sunday suicide bombers had clear links with ISIS.
The Sunday School Children: The Little Known Tragedy of the Sri Lankan Easter Attacks
One of the warnings received before the attacks related to National Tawheed Jamath, or NTJ, a little-known local Islamic group. But officials at the time did not believe they could have acted alone.
Reports followed that the perpetrators were from the top of Sri Lankan society. Several were educated abroad, and at least two were associated with one of the wealthiest 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 leader, Zahran Hashim, was a radical Islamist preacher, well known to the authorities and the local Muslim community. Weeks before the bombing, Indian intelligence warned its Sri Lankan counterpart that Zahran was planning an attack on churches and hotels.
The commission found that Zahran, who blew himself up at the Shangri-La hotel in Colombo, “was in fact the leader and that he had informed his group members of his intention to personally participate in the suicide bombing.”

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

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

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