Justice Minister invites all MPs to determine future course of Easter Sunday carnage investigations

By Saman Indrajith

All MPs must come together and determine what should be done about future investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks, Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told Parliament on Friday (08).Minister Rajapakshe said that he had warned of the dangers of Islamic extremism 29 months before the Easter Sunday attacks.

“I was branded as an extremist. Only Rauff Hakeem, who was a Minister then, said what I said should be investigated. Everyone else attacked me.”

The Justice Minister added that Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam had made serious accusations against several judges and senior officials at the Attorney General’s Department, claiming that they had played a role in the release of State Minister of Rural Road Development, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan.

“These are baseless accusations aimed at undermining public faith in the judiciary. Even if something happens to Rasamanickam, he, too, will have to go to courts,” he said.

MP Rasamanickam also played an audio recording of an individual who has made an appearance in the recent Channel 4 documentary on the Easter Sunday attacks.

“The recordings had some things that the person had not even told Channel 4. If Rasamanickam has evidence, he must present it to law enforcement officials,” the Justice Minister said.