Proceedings of Easter Sunday Commission given to church

by Norman Palihawadane

Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith says that over 1,500 pages containing evidence are missing from the soft copy of the report of Presidential Commission of Inquiry on Easter Sunday given to the Church by the government.

Speaking at the first meeting of the Archdiocesan Presbyterium at Archbishop’s House Conference Hall in Colombo last week, the Cardinal said that the government had given them the soft copy of the PCoI report in six CDs.

“After going through them by us and our lawyers we found that there are nearly 70,000 pages of the PCoI report. However, the government has kept to themselves over 1,500 pages. It is discernible that these missing pages contained evidence given by key witnesses such as Hadiya, wife of Zahran Hashim and Sarah Jesmin, one of the leading protagonists who had very close associations with the group of terrorists who exploded themselves at the Easter Sunday attacks,” the Cardinal said.

He said that the following many letters from the Church demanding the complete PCoI report, the government authorities released the six CDs and told the media that the report in its entirety was given to the Church.

“These ministers and officials keep on saying that 99 per cent of investigations are over and the Church has been appraised of the contents of the PCoI report. There is no truth in their statements. Now they have filed cases against 23 Muslims who had known Zahran and his team members. The government authorities are now trying to turn them to scapegoats while deliberately overlooking to investigate all aspects of the case,” the Cardinal said.

“This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Easter Sunday attack. In response to our continuous calls for a fresh, fair and independent investigation, government authorities have come up with plots to mislead the public. Besides no inquiry has been conducted, up until now, on new evidence emerging in the case like the statements made by witness Azad Moulana, the personal secretary of Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillayan.

“Moulana has alleged that Pillayan had been the go between who had assisted the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) to approach Zahran and his group. Moulana also affirmed that Zahran Group had received money through Pillayan from the DMI which was then headed by Suresh Saleh, who is the head of State Intelligence Service under the incumbent government.

“As per new evidence, there had been meetings between Saleh and Zahran and that a lorry load of suspicious materials was released without being checked on the orders of incumbent IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon at Gelanigama exit of the Southern Highway. The said lorry belonged to the Avant Garde Security Service closely connected to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Moulana has stated that the lorry presumably contained explosives,” the Cardinal said.Auxiliary Bishops Rt Rev Drs Anton Ranjith, Maxwell Silva and JD Anthony were also present att he head table with the Cardinal.