Columns

• Presidential Commission findings presented to Speaker and AG in 2021 during Gotabaya Rajapaksa government; AG initiated CID inquiry and legal action
• Report supports FBI conclusion and highlights Zahran’s links to ISIS
• Queries over Shani’s last-minute inclusion in the new probe committee
• Cardinal places new set of demands before government, calls for appointment of independent special prosecutor’s office

By Our Political Editor

Last Sunday marked the sixth anniversary of the devastating Easter Sunday attacks, with Sri Lankans coming together to remember the victims.

The nation was once again reminded of the lingering questions and unresolved issues surrounding the pursuit of justice. Despite numerous investigations and promises of accountability, the most recent developments have left many feeling disillusioned, as the suspense surrounding new revelations culminated in yet another highly anticlimactic turn.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, during his recent rallies for local council elections, reignited public interest by pledging to reveal the identities of those involved in the attacks. His remarks, timed to coincide with the anniversary, underscored the gravity of the issue, equating it to the pervasive challenges of bribery and corruption. Yet, the promised revelations have failed to materialise, leaving the public in a state of anticipation.

Colombo’s Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, a steadfast advocate for justice to the believers of his faith, added fresh impetus to the issue. While he, in an ultimatum to the government, initially threatened to lead a 27-kilometre march from Colombo to Katuwapitiya Church, one of the Catholic places of worship that came under attack, he later refrained from doing so. He had sought the identity and the arrest of new masterminds before last Sunday’s sixth anniversary. Instead, he issued a seven-point demand to the government during his commemoration speech, calling for transparency, accountability, and decisive action. His demands this year included the establishment of an independent prosecutor’s office and a thorough investigation into alleged ties between military intelligence and extremist groups. In his address on the same subject in 2024, the prelate sought an international investigation by placing issues before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNHRC) in Geneva.

The government’s response has been equally convoluted. The Presidential Secretariat announced that the reports from the Janak De Silva Presidential Commission of Inquiry would be forwarded to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for examination and recommendations. It is the CID and the Police that would make any further responses, they said.

The remarks came as Police spokesperson SSP Buddhika Manatunga held a news conference on Monday to declare that the Police had received the final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry that probed the incidents that left 269 dead and over 500 wounded. He said a committee chaired by senior DIG Asanka Karawita has been appointed by acting Police Chief Priyantha Weerasooria to “study and investigate” findings. The other three members of the committee are P. Ampavila, DIG in charge of the CID; Senior Superintendent of Police Imesha Muthumala, Director, CID; and SSP Kamal Perera, Director of the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID).

An inclusion 24 hours later was Shani Abeysekera, a retired SSP who has been reinstated to the Police on a one-year contract. It is not clear whether the omission was an oversight or if the acting Police Chief was asked to make the inclusion. He announced that these measures were being adopted on the orders of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Further subcommittees will also study the recommendations, he said. The sheer volume of the PCoI reports—spanning between 66,000 and 67,000 pages—reflects the complexity and depth of the probe. A police source associated with the process said the documents could fill half a container. Abeysekera’s appointment has drawn strong criticism from the opposition. Namal Rajapaksa, leader of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) in Parliament, declared in a post on X, the former Twitter, that “it is completely inappropriate for someone who was not only involved in the original investigation but also named in the said report and summoned as a witness to be now placed in a position of oversight.” He added, “Further compounding the issue are recent political statements by Abeysekera clearly exposing his political biases.”

Important enough, the final report of the Janak de Silva Presidential Commission of Inquiry was given to the Speaker of Parliament and the Attorney General four years ago. The latter had initiated a CID inquiry thereafter. A post on the Parliament of Sri Lanka website on February 23, 2021, and another post in the Presidential Secretariat website had this to say about the report being handed over to the Speaker and to then Attorney General Dappula de Livera on February 25, 2021. Here are the two posts:

FINAL REPORT OF PCOI ON EASTER SUNDAY FORWARDED TO SPEAKER

“On the directive given by H.E. the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Mr. Hariguptha Rohanadheera, the Director General (Legal), Presidential Secretariat, handed over the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PcoI) Report on Easter Sunday attacks to the Hon. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena today (23).

“The report was presented to the Cabinet chaired by H.E. the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, by the President himself at the Cabinet meeting held last night (22). H.E. the President then instructed that steps be taken to present it to Parliament.

“Accordingly, the report was officially handed over to the Hon. Speaker this morning in Parliament. The Secretary General of Parliament Mr. Dhammika Dasanayake was also present when the report was being presented.

“The Hon. Speaker requested the Director General (Legal), Presidential Secretariat to send copies of the report to Parliament as soon as possible for the purpose of making it available to the Members of Parliament.

“After receiving the copies, the report will be made available to all Members of Parliament in the future, the Speaker said.”

FINAL REPORT OF PCOI ON EASTER SUNDAY GIVEN TO ATTORNEY GENERAL

This is what a report in the website of the Presidential Secretariat of February 25, 2021 said:

“The final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) to investigate and inquire into the Easter Sunday attacks that was presented to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been handed over to Attorney General Dappula De Livera.

“The report was handed over by the Director General, Legal Affairs of the Presidential Secretariat Hariguptha Rohanadheera at the Attorney General’s Department today (25).”

The first question that comes to the fore is why President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is sending the final report of the PCoI to the Police, including the CID, after four long years. Though President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has lost his controversial presidency after plunging the country into an unprecedented economic crisis, the findings and recommendations of the PCoI remain the same. That is not all. The Attorney General’s Department commissioned the CID to conduct investigations based on the PCoI recommendations and even instituted court action. Some probes are pending both with the CID and the Terrorism Investigation Division. Here are a few examples from a lengthy list:

=   The indictment of Naufer Moulavi (identified as the number two of ISIS in Sri Lanka) before a High Court-at-Bar. He is also indicted over the recovery of explosives in Wanathavillu. Abdul Cader Fathima Hadiya is indicted before the High Court of Kalmunai.

=   Investigations are ongoing into the alleged conduct of Riyaj Bathiudeen (brother of former minister Rishad Bathiudeen) who is alleged to be one of the biggest funders of Zahran Hashim.

=   Indictments are now being prepared after conclusion of investigations into “Matale Zahran.” He had kept in touch with an intelligence officer.

=   Riskan was tasked with the duty of evacuating any of the terrorists who may fail in carrying out the attacks. He has been indicted before the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar

The fact that President Dissanayake’s directive to the Police, including the CID, adopt these measures clearly highlights his administration’s sudden shift in focus in the Easter Sunday probe. He is, in fact, asking the Police/CID to now undertake the prosecutorial work carried out by the Attorney General. Just days earlier, he told rallies linked to upcoming local council polls that his government hoped to reveal the people involved in the attack ahead of April 21—the sixth anniversary. Like probes against bribery and corruption, he declared that investigations into Easter Sunday incidents were ongoing. However, the new process now appears to be lengthy, with the CID again tasked to investigate the recommendations before the Attorney General can proceed with filing indictments. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith’s call for a special prosecutor adds another layer to the narrative, emphasising the need for decisive action. In his address on the same subject in 2024, the prelate sought an international investigation by placing issues before the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNHRC) in Geneva.

It is also pertinent to note that after the final report of the PCoI was handed over to then Attorney General Dappula de Livera, a devout Catholic, he declared that there was a conspiracy behind the Easter Sunday incidents. When the CID sought to obtain a statement, he obtained a stay order from the Court of Appeal preventing them. Now Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has placed a new demand on the government—the appointment of a Prosecutor General and thus the replacement of the role of the Attorney General. He does not explain to the Sri Lankan public why such a change is necessary. What has gone wrong with the AG’s department?

Neither the Presidential Secretariat nor the Police have explained the sudden shift in focus in the investigations. There is at least one factor that stands out. The investigations will no longer be the responsibility of only a controversial duo—Ravi Seneviratne, former senior DIG in charge of CID, and Shani Abeysekera, former director. Seneviratne was appointed as Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security by the NPP-JVP government, whilst Abeysekera was appointed as Director of the Central Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB). He is also Director of Criminal Intelligence and Analysis. The duo also came under strong strictures for their conduct before the attacks, pointedly for not acting on warnings. Now a collective body of police officials will study the recommendations for criminal action, and they will pass through with the authority of the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the CID. More importantly, the probe will largely centre on the Janak De Silva Presidential Commission of Inquiry with emphasis on issues raised by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith.

About the Easter Sunday incidents, a barrage of queries from the media over the government’s shift in focus resonated strongly during Tuesday’s media briefing presided over by official spokesperson and Media Minister Nalinda Jayatissa. He parried most questions posed to him. Here is a sample in brief.

Q: It is now six years since the Easter Sunday attack. The President recently claimed that the mastermind of the attacks would be revealed by April 21 but this did not happen. The opposition often says this is a government that sprouts lies. Do not statements such as these by the President bring the government into further disrepute? Or has the government swallowed a rope dangled by the IGP, claiming that the police will arrest the mastermind and reveal details by April 21? Six other journalists associated themselves with the same question, raising related issues.

Minister Jayatissa: We are wondering why those who are now in the opposition, who were in government previously, have become so agitated regarding investigations into the attack. The probe is being conducted by the CID. They arrest various individuals, and take statements from various individuals. There is no need for anyone in the opposition to become agitated over this.

While it has been six years since the Easter attack, we were forced to carry out the investigation in a situation where attempts had been made over 5½ years to suppress the probe. If an opportunity had been afforded to carry out the investigation correctly during this entire six-year period, we would perhaps have been able to reveal all those involved in this conspiracy, including the masterminds. But what has happened over the past 5½ years is an attempt by the political authority, through Cabinet, to suppress the investigation.

Q: Has Pillayan been arrested over the Easter attack? We were told he had been arrested over the case of the missing university lecturer. If so, why is he being detained on a 90-day detention order? Pillayan had been in prison from 2015 to 2020. Is there not even one charge against him over the Easter Sunday attack? More journalists joined in with different questions on the same subject. Another added that the President declared a revelation will be made by April 21. The entire country was waiting for the mastermind to be revealed. While the President did not explicitly state this, his statement implied that this is what will happen. Yet all you did on April 21 was hand over the report of the Presidential Commission into the Easter Sunday attack to the CID. Can the country be satisfied with something like that? A journalist asked, is the President being misled by his officials or is it the President who is misleading the country? Why did the Presidential Secretariat sit on the Commission’s report into the Easter Sunday attack all this time and wait till April 21 to send it to the police like it was waiting for some auspicious time? Do you not accept that the government failed after promising that a significant revelation will be made before April 21? You shouldn’t be protecting any officials in the CID or the Public Security Ministry if they have misled the President.

Minister Jayatissa:  Some channels have been getting hold of various politicians all this time and giving them space to say that this government cannot rebuild the economy, does not maintain good diplomatic relations and cannot ensure national security. But the people of the country believed in us and gave us a mandate to form a government. We will work according to that mandate, so there is no need for anyone to become agitated. The government will not become agitated due to the agitation of those who are directly or indirectly linked to this attack. Let them be as agitated as they like.

Q: But why did it take so long for the Presidential Commission report to be given to the CID?

Minister Jayatissa: There was no delay. We have handed over the report at the relevant point in the CID’s probe.

The Attorney General’s Department, as it stands, plays a dual role—advising the government and acting as the chief prosecutor. The establishment of an independent Public Prosecutor’s Office has emerged as a new proposal from the Justice Ministry. Such an office, it is claimed, would aim to ensure that prosecutorial decisions are made without recourse to the present process via the Attorney General. The recent steps to appoint an expert committee to study and recommend the establishment of this office appear promising but must be approached with transparency and inclusivity. Without these, the process risks being perceived as a token gesture to push through cases rather than a genuine effort to strengthen the rule of law.

Interestingly, the Presidential Commission of Inquiry led by Supreme Court Justice Janak De Silva has also made its findings on the lines of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other foreign investigation teams that came to Sri Lanka. The FBI position was articulated in an affidavit by its team leader to Sri Lanka, Merrilee Gordon. The details were revealed in these columns. He said his findings had revealed “ISIS in Sri Lanka”, an affiliate of the ISIS then rooted in Syria, was responsible for the attacks.

The Janak De Silva Commission report noted that the leader of the group, Zahran Hashim, “had progressed to violent extremism by the end of 2016. Naufer (his declared number two) played a pivotal role in Zahran progressing to violent extremism. In March 2017, Zahran and the NTJ (National Thawheed Jamath) members attacked Sufi members. Thereafter, Zahran was on the run until the Easter Sunday attacks. Around November 2017, Zahran began to conduct training camps for his supporters. The training included sermons on the IS, activities of Buddhist extremist organisations like the BBS (Bodu Bala Sena), and training in the use of weapons and explosives. He held around eleven camps in various parts of the country.

“The main thrust of the radicalization process employed by Zahran was a well-constructed narrative. Firstly, it spoke about a Caliphate. The term Caliphate (Khalifah in Arabic) is an Islamic state headed by a Caliph who is considered a politico religious successor to Prophet Muhammed and a leader of the entire Muslim world (ummah). Secondly, Zahran spoke of jihad and references to it in Islamic religious scriptures and emphasised it must be understood to mean violent jihad.  Thirdly, Zahran referred to atrocities committed around the world on Muslims and stated that they must be avenged. Fourthly, Zahran referred to events in Sri Lanka where Sri Lanka Muslims were targeted and in particular to Venerable Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara thero. Fifthly Zahran sought to make the Muslim community lose faith in the democratic governance structure of the country. The original Zahran plan was to attack the Kandy Perehara. But it was advanced due to the recovery of explosives from Wanathawilluwa and international factors. IS was losing ground in Syria and Iraq and called on its faithful to launch attacks. He was also concerned that the law enforcement authorities may apprehend him soon……”

Even Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has acknowledged that the Commission investigated on the “close connections that existed between Islamic extremism and Zahran Hashim and his group who were directly responsible for the incident.” This is in his commemoration address on the sixth anniversary. He, however, entertains reservations over several factors relating to the local investigations. This has seen periodic changes. Edited highlights of his anniversary speech delivered from the St Anthony’s shrine in Kochchikade. appears on this page.

The contradictions—such as the Attorney General’s Department already acting on the Commission’s recommendations—raise questions about the efficiency and coordination of the process. Shockingly enough, the process is now being reversed with the police committee asked to study and recommend indictments. Until at least a Public Prosecutor’s Office is legally established, they would still have to go through the Attorney General. It seems there are multiple threads to untangle here. Not so long ago, there were sections of the Police including the CID that claimed that their investigations were ending up at the Attorney General’s department with no court action. The accusations were hotly contested by the Attorney General’s office pointing out that the evidence gathered has been grossly insufficient to ensure a successful prosecution.

The time taking process will mean that the Police committee, now playing a prosecutorial role, will first investigate the recommendations of the Commission, for a second time, that too in four years. Thereafter, it will go to the Attorney General for filing of indictments. This year, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith called for a special prosecutor. Yet, contradictions abound, as the Attorney General’s Department had already acted on the Commission’s recommendations, directing the CID to conduct investigations on some aspects.

Sections in the NPP-JVP government say the future prosecutions over Easter Sunday incidents would be through a new Public Prosecutor. That will naturally involve the passage of constitutional changes not only refining their role but also the position of the Attorney General. President Dissanayake is not in favour of amendments and wants a new constitution in place. The preparation of a draft is now under way. A new Public Prosecutor role could indeed reshape the legal landscape, but the lack of transparency from both Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and the NPP-JVP government raises valid concerns. The Cardinal’s frustration with media bias and the Media Minister Jayatissa’s evasiveness, seem to undermine their promises of truth and accountability.

It is deeply disappointing that both Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and the NPP-JVP government, despite their promises of transparency and truth, are now retreating from the media spotlight. The Cardinal’s grievances about the “slanted policy” of certain media organizations, which he accuses of bowing to political masters and distorting the truth, ring hollow when he himself avoids engaging openly. Sadly, he has not even addressed a handful of media briefings in the past six years. Nor has he explained to the Sri Lankan public why his demands are increasing year by year.

Tough talking Media Minister Nalinda Jayatissa’s last Tuesday’s briefing only adds to the growing sense of disillusionment. Both parties must recognise that transparency is not a selective virtue, and the media, flawed as it may be, is not the enemy — it is the conduit for accountability. Their reluctance to face scrutiny undermines their credibility and the principles they once championed.

Cardinal’s 7 demands and claims of existence of deep state Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo, has handed down seven demands for the government to fulfil in respect of the 2019 Easter Sunday incidents and reminded President Anura Kumara Dissanayake about his pledge not to allow the truth of the tragedy “be buried in the sands of time”. His remarks came in an address he delivered at the sixth-year commemoration of the Easter Sunday bomb victims at the St Anthony’s shrine in Kochchikade. Here are edited excerpts of his speech: The Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed by President Sirisena to investigate these attacks focused its attention on two important issues. They investigated the close connections that existed between Islamic extremism and Zahran Hashim and his group, who were directly responsible for this incident, and the background that prepared them for that, as well as what has to be done to eliminate all the factors that contributed to such feelings of hate, making a series of proposals. They also wanted to find out what needs to be done with regard to the culpability of some of the senior political leaders, government officials, security services personnel of the Police and the forces, intelligence service officers, etc., for their gross neglect of duty in ignoring several warnings about such attacks provided by the intelligence services of India, well on time, and thereby permitted the attacks to go ahead. Recommendations had to be made on what punitive action the government could take to ensure justice in that matter. Yet, the said commission could not investigate the involvement, if any, of others who led or gave tactical support to the terrorists for their own selfish purposes. Other factors Among these other factors that did not receive in-depth attention of the Commission or were not known to them, at that time, are what happened to suicide bomber Hashtun’s wife Sarah Jasmin; the role played by the intelligence officer known by the pen name Sonic-Sonic, discovering who he really was and why he tried his best to get the ISIS to claim credit for the attacks making use of a person by the name of “little Zahran” of Matale; as to what happened to that lorry at the Gelanigama exit of the Southern Highway; when it was stopped at 3.10 a.m. by two police officers for inspection a call came from a very high up official of the Police asking them not to inspect it and where that lorry went as well as what it really contained; why a deliberate attempt was made by a very high up Police Officer to mislead the investigations into the murder of two Police officers at Vavunativu by Zahran’s group, now confirmed, in order to attribute it to the LTTE using an LTTE suicide jacket placed under a culvert; what were the contacts between the seventh bomber Jameel and Military Intelligence, as they had known his whereabouts and had followed him before he exploded himself. Scuttled investigations The government that received the final report of the said Presidential Commission, in spite of all these interrogations and actors that came to light later, did everything within its power to scuttle these investigations. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith Other volumes, it was claimed, by the said government were handed over to the parliamentary library only, and subsequently the government that followed it handed over the other volumes to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference with a caveat—not to publish anything in the open. Thus, they wanted this information to be kept hidden from the wider public. From all this, all those who came to power after the Easter 2019 suicide tragedy wanted to keep this information somehow a secret from the public. The last government, before the change in 2024, and those who guided it sought to engage in a childish manoeuvre seeking to show that there was a division of opinion among the members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Deep state The common position has been that since there has been no quick and efficient investigation into this tragedy, the government should conduct such an investigation, empowering the CID and the Police and showing greater interest in the matter. With sadness we must affirm at this point that the attempt by past governments to bury the truth continues even today due to the de-liberate process of sabotage launched by some of these state bodies subservient to such political forces of the past and functioning as part of the “deep state”. After these attacks, the then Attorney General Dappula de Livera, in an interview he gave on 17th May 2019 to a News First journalist, affirmed that there was a “grand conspiracy” behind the attacks. This statement was totally ignored by his successor and the AG’s department, showing very little interest in the matter, and this policy of “throwing cold water” on the investiga-tions into this tragedy, showing how powerful the “deep state” is in sheltering the real culprits behind these attacks, is still more or less the same. Most unfortunately, one has to also note the politically slanted policy of some of the leading news media organisations who pay obeisance to their political masters and twist the truth to suit them through their biased news reporting and studies. They thus try to obstruct the present investigations into the truth behind these attacks. Lethargic approach Even though His Excellency the president has taken commendable steps on this matter and has handed over the investigations to a group of high officials, the existing legislation and the lethargic attitude of some of the other officials who need to cooperate in the implementation of these decisions seem to encounter serious obstacles. We have given the existing government a two-thirds majority in parliament, hoping that making the necessary constitutional and legal changes would bring to book all those political and violent underground forces who have been responsible for murders, disappearances, the white van culture, torture chambers, private armies and underworld activities and there would be legal action against them. Our appeal The President, our only hope and wish, is that in keeping with the promise made on October 6, 2024, at St. Sebastian’s Church, Katuwapitiya, Negombo, you will not allow the truth of this tragedy “to be buried in the sands of time”, and you will take every step to find out the truth behind this tragedy and bring before the law all those persons found responsible for this vio-lence. In order to do that, I wish to present to you the following requests calling upon you to pay attention to them. 1)   To bring before Parliament and thus make public all the volumes of the Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Easter attacks headed by the Supreme Court Judge, Justice Janak De Silva, 2)   Establish an Independent Special Prosecutor’s Office with full authority to investigate the Easter Sunday tragedy and equip this office with power to file action against all those who are found responsible for such, 3)   Inquire into all aspects of this tragedy and the forces behind it revealing the truth to the public and bringing before the Courts of Law all those accused of complicity, 4)   Ensure that all the recommendations made by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed on 21st September 2019, are implemented, 5)   Inquire into all the connections that existed between the Army Intelligence and the terrorist leader Zahran Hashim and the claims made by the Channel 4 programme in England, especially by Azad Moulana, central witness of the programme whose evidence should be closely scrutinised [we do not in anyway accept the report presented by the Imam Committee appointed by the former govern-ment to investigate into the Channel 4 claims as they had written such a report without at least interviewing the key witness of that programme, Azad Moulana and thus it lacks objectivity while it seeks to serve a political need only], 6)   Steps should be taken to ensure that all those secret plots which opened the way to the realisation of the Easter attacks are uncovered and all obstructions to that process posed by the “deep state” are overcome with the right type of laws and administrative practices which will ensure a new Sri Lanka which is just, peaceful and disciplined, protecting everyone’s human dignity and rights. 7)   We call upon the government to ensure that hereafter all political leaders in this country consider themselves servants and not rulers of the people who elected them and that they make it a point to serve all those who did or did not vote for them, working to create a deeply religious and peaceful nation with a new culture which would not leave room for such violence or hate feelings. Extremism The fact that behind these attacks were a group of people who, motivated by narrow minded sectarian considerations of race and religion, wanted to create inter-ethnic and inter-religious tension destroying the good name of this country is clear when we look at what happened at their hands, two weeks after these attacks, in the Negombo area and three weeks after that in the Chilaw, Nathandiya, Dankotuwa and Minuwangoda areas.