No UK help on Easter attacks probe despite Ranil’s July promise

Despite it being one month since then-Prime Minister/Acting President and incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s statement that he hopes to complete the investigations into the Easter Sunday terror attacks with the support of the UK Police authorities, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has not sought such assistance from the UK police authorities, The Morning learnt.

Although an official request should be made to the UK Police authorities if the Government seeks their support in carrying out the relevant investigations, the key institutions that are tasked with and responsible for making such a request, neither the Presidential Secretariat, the Ministry of Defence, nor the Ministry of Public Security have not yet made any request to the effect.

When contacted by The Morning for confirmation, an official from the Presidential Secretariat stated that no request has been made so far through the Presidential Secretariat, seeking the support of the UK Police authorities for the investigations into the Easter Sunday terror attacks. When queried as to whether any discussion has taken place in this regard, he stated that no such discussion, according to his knowledge, has taken place.

Meanwhile, when contacted, an official of the Defence Ministry stated that, to his knowledge, such a request had not been made through the Defence Ministry, and that it should instead be made at the diplomatic level.

Furthermore, a high-ranking official of the Public Security Ministry told The Morning that no request has yet been made to the UK Police authorities for support in the relevant investigations. After the statement made by Wickremesinghe to the effect that it is hoped to seek the UK Police authorities’ assistance to complete the investigations, the Ministry official said that there has been no discussion regarding the matter. The Sri Lanka Police, which is conducting the investigations into the said terror attacks, falls under the Public Security Ministry.

High-level Government sources further told The Morning that if there are preparations to seek such support for an ongoing investigation into a particular matter, the National Security Council (NSC) should discuss such. However, according to these sources, no such discussion has taken place at the NSC following Wickremesinghe’s statement.

Making a statement as Acting President  on 18 July, following former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation, Wickremesinghe said that he planned to obtain the assistance of the police authorities of the UK in order to complete the investigation into the Easter Sunday terror attacks, as the lack of a proper investigation has meant that this issue is yet to be fully resolved. “One problem is the question we all are having about the Easter Sunday attacks. None of those procedures have been finalised yet. I am dedicated to resolving these problems, as we don’t need to continue with these problems forever. We must ensure that this is brought to an end, and that there should be a full-scale impartial review of the material that is available.

“If everyone is willing, I would like to get the help of the UK and their police authorities. They are the best that we can find, in addition to the people from Sri Lanka who are working on this issue. It is the responsibility of the Government to finalise this matter without any further delay,” he said.

However, hours after his statement as Prime Minister and Acting President, the Catholic Church accused Wickremesinghe of trying to gain Presidential power “on the blood and flesh” of the people who died in the said terror attacks, and “on the sorrow and tears” of the people who are seeking justice for the same. The Church recalled that it was Wickremesinghe who was Prime Minister at the time of the terror attacks, and that he had ample time and opportunity to obtain the support of the UK Police authorities and to conduct an independent investigation through an international investigation team.

On Easter Sunday, 21 April 2019, three churches (the St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, the St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade, and the Zion Church in Batticaloa) and three luxury hotels in Colombo (the Cinnamon Grand, The Kingsbury, and the Shangri-La) were targeted in a series of co-ordinated Islamist terrorist suicide bombings. Later that day, another two bomb explosions took place at a house in Dematagoda, and the Tropical Inn Lodge in Dehiwala. A total of 267 people were killed in the bombings, including at least 45 foreign nationals, while at least 500 were injured. All eight of the suicide bombers in the attacks were Sri Lankan citizens associated with the National Thowheed Jama’ath founded by the suicide bomber that detonated at the Shangri-La Hotel, Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zahran, alias Zahran Hashim.