The investigation into the Easter bombings in Sri Lanka calls for a criminal prosecution of the former president

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The commission of inquiry said on Wednesday that “criminal proceedings” should be initiated against former President Maithripala Sirisena, who left office in November 2019, for “criminal liability on his part” for the attacks.

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

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

Set up by Sirisena five months after the attacks, the commission found that the former president knew of a possible terrorist threat, but “proceeded to India and then to Singapore from 16 April to 21 April, without making any appointments to the the post of Minister of Defense. ”

In its 472-page report, which was handed to Parliament, the committee said that “there is criminal liability on its part” and recommended that the Attorney General “consider initiating criminal proceedings against President Sirisena in accordance with any appropriate provisions in Penal Code”.

He also said that at the time, 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 any meeting of the National Security Council,” the report said.

In addition to the former chairman, the commission recommended criminal proceedings against former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former police chief Pujith Jayasundera, former national intelligence chief Sisira Mendia and other senior police officers.

Former President of Sri Lanka, 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 her Colombo residence. An employee who answered the phone said, “He is very busy today and will not receive any calls.”

At the time, the former president acknowledged that he was abroad “for a personal holiday”, when briefings were sent warning of a potential terrorist act to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense and police chiefs. However, he said that “it has not been updated or notified with the information they received regarding the possibility of such a serious attack on our soil.”
In the days following the attacks, Sri Lanka’s intelligence services said they believed Easter Sunday 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 Islamist group. But officials at the time did not believe they could act alone.
Reports followed that the perpetrators came from the upper echelons of Sri Lankan society. Several were educated abroad 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 merchants.
The alleged mentor and leader, Zahran Hashim, was a radical Islamist preacher known to the authorities and the local Muslim community. A few weeks before the bombing, the Indian intelligence service 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 informed members of his group of 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 is believed to be the emir of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Bangladesh. Gulchand Café, which killed 29 people, “the commission said.

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

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