Easter Sunday carnage: Challenge before AG

On May 18, the then Attorney General Dappula de Livera said there had been a conspiracy behind the attacks that killed 269 people and injured over 500 on Easter Sunday in 2019. On May 15, he said in a letter to IGP C. D. Wickramaratne, that his department was unable to press charges or file indictments against the conspirators and abettors of the Easter Sunday attack as the CID had not completed its investigations.

De Livera also said that though Naufer Maulavi was a key conspirator, he couldn’t be considered the mastermind of the terror attacks. This runs counter to what the Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekera has said.

The alleged conspiracy should be viewed against the backdrop of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) receiving specific intelligence relating to the Easter attacks.

On May 25 Attorney General de Livera retired, and Acting Solicitor General Sanjay Rajaratnam was appointed as his successor.

Dappula de Livera handled the Easter Sunday inquiry right from its inception. He was the Solicitor General before being appointed as Attorney General on 29 April 2019, just eight days after the Easter Sunday attacks. De Livera succeeded Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC, who was appointed the Chief Justice.

The Easter Sunday carnage took place on 21 April 2019. The AG’s serious accusation directed at the CID should be examined against the backdrop of him handling the Easter Sunday inquiry right from its inception.

According to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) report that dealt with the Easter Sunday carnage, as well as the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI), in 2017 the AG’s Department failed to act on information provided by the police in respect of suicide bomber Zahran Hashim. PSC and PCoI revealed how the AG’s Department literally sat on that particular file for two years. Was it negligence or could there be some other explanation.

The examination of the parliamentary debate on the Easter attacks, and other related statements made in Parliament this year, shows the need to review (i) the developments in the run-up to the 2019 Easter carnage, (ii) coordinated multiple attacks and (iii) the post-incident scenario.

High profile intervention was made by the AG in October last year, when the CID quietly released Riyajj Bathiudeen, in April 2020, in connection with the Easter Sunday attacks. Then, the suspect was re-arrested in April this year, in terms of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), Regardless of the person at the helm at the AG’s Department, the public expected the perpetrators of the heinous crime to be brought to justice.

President’s Counsel de Livera should explain what he really meant when he said the Easter Sunday carnage was a massive conspiracy.

The delay in addressing the post-Easter Sunday issues and concluding investigations into the carnage poses a threat to national security.

On May 19, Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara told Parliament the FBI confirmed that Maulavi (Islamic preacher) Mohamad Ibrahim Mohamad Naufer had masterminded the Easter Sunday bombings.

The Minister said the AG had already filed indictments against 16 suspects in the Kegalle High Court for damaging a Buddha Statue in Mawanella, and six suspects in the Puttalam High Court for storing explosives in Wanathawilluwa. Three more were indicted in the Kegalle High Court for the attempted murder of Mohammad Taslim, a key witness whose body is partially paralysed as a result of a gunshot to the head. Police believe Taslim was shot on the orders of Zahran Hashim, the ringleader of the suicide bombers that blew themselves up on April 21 2019. Mohammed Naufer Mohammed Yusri and Hejaaz Hizbullah and another were indicted for aiding and abetting terrorist activities in Gampaha and Puttalam High Courts.

Weerasekara said in November 2020, eight documents with charges were presented to the AG regarding the eight attacks that happened on Easter Sunday 2019. The PCol that probed the attack presented its findings to the AG in February this year. According to the Minister, from March 12 to April 24, a team of 54 police investigators, together with state counsels from the Attorney General’s Department, worked in a team led by a Senior Assistant Solicitor General to thoroughly analyse the evidence and facts under the personal supervision of the AG. Authorities have apprehended 704 individuals suspected of being connected to the bombings, according to Weerasekara.

Shortcomings in the investigation were reported to the police on April 24. The AG then resubmitted the report to the IGP on May 12, and by that time, the police had addressed most of the shortcomings and reported back to the AG’s Department, Weerasekara said. “We hope to attend to the rest of the shortcomings in the near future, after which the Attorney General can file indictments against suspects,” he added.

The new AG should probe his predecessor’s allegations against the CID as a national priority.

JUSTIN KEPPEITIYAGAMA

jdkgama02@gmail.com