PSC live broadcast on Easter Sunday attacks disrupted; Committee asks to ensure transparency

The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) which commenced public sittings today to probe and report to Parliament on the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks expressed concerns over the sudden disruption of its live coverage which was being broadcasted in PEO TV network.

Dr Jayampathy Wickramaratne who presided at today's proceedings as Acting Chairman noted this would be a first time in the Sri Lankan Parliament history where PSC hearings were made accessible to media.

Dr Wickramaratne added that in doing so it would ensure transparency in governance and uphold the peoples' right to access information in the aftermath of the deadly terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday.

The live broadcast was disrupted  during  Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) Sisira Mendis'  testimony before the Committee.

Mr Mendia  explained in detail the administrative delays that led to the lapse in failure to act upon several intelligence warnings issued by the intelligence community. Earlier today Defense Secretary General (Rtd) Shantha Kottegoda testified before the committee as well. (RS)

The National Security Council (NSC), the topmost decision-making body dealing with the country’s national security, never discussed intelligence about an alleged impending terrorist attack as it did not meet after February 19, it was revealed yesterday (29) during witness testimony before the  Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) appointed to look into and report to Parliament on the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks.

Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) Sisira Mendis told the PSC that the NSC had last met on February 19 and there were no further meetings till after the terrorist attacks on April 21.

This meant that intelligence about an "Alleged Plan of Attack" that had first been received in early April was never discussed at the NSC, it was revealed. 

The CNI said he had received a letter dated April 7 from the Director of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) Nilantha Jayawardena regarding an “Alleged Plan of Attack.” There was no mention of where the intelligence had come from. Since April 7 was a Sunday, it was only the following morning (April 8) that he found the letter at his office. Though he wanted to speak to Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando on the matter, April 8 was a busy day since the Indian Secretary of Defence was also in Colombo and as such, he did not get an opportunity to speak to the Defence Secretary till about 3.00pm that day, Mr Mendis told the committee. When questioned by the committee, he added that it did not seem as if the Defence Secretary was aware of the information till he spoke to him about it.

Though the Defence Secretary had said the matter should be taken up at the weekly Intelligence Coordination Meeting due to be held the following day (April 9), the SIS Head, who had sent the letter, did not bring the subject up at the meeting, Mr Mendis stated. “I kept the letter on my table throughout the meeting waiting for it to be taken up, but when it wasn’t, I told the SIS Head towards the end of the meeting that we should discuss it. He claimed he had already informed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) about it,” he said.

Nevertheless, Mr Mendis said he himself sent his own letter to the IGP on behalf of the Defence Secretary on the same day about the alleged impending attack. “I used ‘Eyes Only,’ which is a term used in intelligence circles to indicate top priority, to mark the letter. I even informed the person going to hand over the letter to Police Headquarters to get the name and contact details of the officer who will accept the letter. I still have those details,” he added.

The CNI though, said he did not receive a response from the IGP until the attacks occurred on April 21.

Testifying before the PSC, Secretary of Defence General (Rtd) Shantha Kottegoda reiterated that a strong intelligence network consisting thousands of personnel attached to various intelligence agencies is currently in place.

Responding to a question over whether intelligence network is capable enough to tackle terrorist activities in future he said “Immediate threats posed by Islamic terrorist groups, particularly lone suicide bombers have been completely eradicated following arrests of key persons involved in the attack”.

When asked about the failure to act on prior intelligence warnings issued by foreign countries months before the eminent attacks, Secretary Kottegoda acknowledged that there was a lapse in the intelligence network chain to act upon it timely. He requested the Committee to grant more time to look into this matter since he assumed duties three weeks ago aftermath of attacks on Easter Sunday

Secretary of Defence General (Rtd) Shantha Kottegoda and Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) Sisira Mendis were the first witnesses who gave evidence before the committee.

They appeared before PSC members Rauff Hakeem, Ravi Karunanayake, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, Prof. Ashu Marasinghe, Dr Jayampathy Wickramaratne and Dr Nalinda Jayathissa. 

Chair of Committees Ananda Kumarasiri was not present yesterday and as such Dr Jayampathy Wickramaratne served as Acting Chair. PSC members Dr Rajitha Senaratne and M.A. Sumanthiran were also not present as they were overseas.

(Pics by M.A. Pushpakumara)