by Hannah Ellis-Petersen in The Gurdian, De 24, 2023 at 06.00 GMTAccusations are growing that the former Sri Lankan government, led by strongman president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, blocked an investigation into the country’s worst terrorist attack amid claims that they had helped orchestrate the blasts in order to return to power. In the attacks on Easter Sunday in 2019, six suicide bombers targeted churches and luxury hotels across the country, killing 269 people, including eight British…
Posts tagged as “Easter”
By Saman Indrajith in The Island, Dec 1, 2023Opposition and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa told Parliament yesterday that his party would abide by the instructions issued by Pope Francis to continue the struggle in seeking the truth about the Easter Sunday terror attacks. “I give an undertaking that our party stands by the Pope’s statement, and will not give up the struggle until we find the truth pertaining to the Easter Sunday terror attacks,” Premadasa…
By Norman Palihawadane in The Island, Oct 31, 2023National Catholic Mass Communications Director Fr. Jude Krishantha Fernando said yesterday that Colombo Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith had been shocked and dismayed by a recent statement made by SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem that Israel had been behind the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks. Addressing the media in Colombo, Rev. Fr. Fernando said that Cardinal Ranjith, who is currently in the Vatican, had contacted him and requested that…
report in The Island, Oct 28, 2023The Catholic Church has appealed to the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to back its efforts to secure a transparent investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage. Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has made representations in this regard to United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada al-Nashif during a recent meeting in Geneva. The Cardinal was accompanied by Shammil Perera, PC, to the meeting…
report in Daily FT, Oct 10, 2023The Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Sri Lanka (CBCS) has written to President Ranil Wickremesinghe requesting copies of reports compiled by international law enforcement and secret service agencies including those from the US, UK, India, China, Australia and Pakistan on the Easter Sunday attack. In a letter dated 6 October, the CBCS observed that President Wickremesinghe had discussed these reports in a recent interview with the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.…
report in adaderana.lk, Sept 21, 2023Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles has stated that no police personnel have been charged in connection with the Easter Sunday bombings of 2019 thus far. Speaking in Parliament today (20 Sep.), he stated that as per the reports submitted by the relevant Presidential Commission of Inquiry, no police personnel have been charged in this regard, and have only been under observation thus far. The Minister asserted this in response…
By Norman Palihawadane in The Island, Sept 10, 2023Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith says that even though many including the Church authorities were unaware of imminent terror attacks on Easter Sunday 2019, almost 15,000 other persons had prior knowledge of it according to the reports of the Special Presidential Commission. Addressing Holy Mass celebrating the blessing of marble structures of the 12 apostles gifted by people of Brechia, Italy to St Sebastian Church at Katuwapitiya,…
AFP report, Sept 7, 2023COLOMBO: Sri Lanka´s Catholic church on Wednesday demanded an international probe into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings in Colombo after a British documentary claimed they were orchestrated to tip the outcome of that year´s election. The documentary, aired on Tuesday, featured a political insider who accused current intelligence chief Suresh Sallay of complicity in the bombings, which killed 279 people including 45 foreigners. Sallay is closely linked to the powerful Rajapaksa…
report in Daily Mirror online, Sept 1, 2023 at 08:25 pmSince Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malclom Ranjith had slammed the government authorities to name the group which supported the Easter Sunday bombers, Minister of Public security Tiran Allas invited him and the Church to go through the investigations and outline any shortcomings. “We have already informed the Church authorities to go through the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks. The Church is welcome to show…
By Norman Palihawadane in The Island, Apr 26, 2023The Catholic Church yesterday vowed that its quest for justice for the victims of the Easter Sunday carnage would continue until the real culprits were brought before justice. Bishop of Kurunegala and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, His Eminence Harold Anthony, said that the Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles had given him all volumes of the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI), which…
by Yohan Perera in Daily Mirror online, Apr 21, 2023 at 02:18 pmArchbishop of Colombo His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith today called for a fresh and transparent probe into Easter Sunday attacks and said justice cannot be expected from the incumbent President or the government. “We need a fresh and transparent probe which is directed towards finding out as to why the repeated prior warnings on the Easter Sunday attacks were not taken seriously, to…