The buck stopped with Sirisena

Last week, a High Court trial-at-bar exonerated former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara and former Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Hemasiri Fernando of charges in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks that killed over 260 people. 

The two officials were indicted on 860 charges that included murder and the failure to prevent the deadly attacks despite receiving specific intelligence warnings from foreign agencies before they took place. 

The dismissal of charges against these two officials before the trial was even heard is an indictment on how badly the case against these two individuals was filed and how politically motivated the charges were. Despite unceasing demands for accountability over the Easter Sunday attacks, prosecuting ‘anyone’ for the sake of scape-goating will not provide the justice that is sought.

There are clearly two groups of individuals who are responsible for the heinous attack. Firstly, there are those who planned and executed these attacks and those who aided them. Even after nearly three years, these individuals are not clearly identified. While the US has indicted and commenced judicial proceedings against certain suspects, the Sri Lankan justice system is yet to make any headway with regard to the actual culprits behind the attack. 

This is further exacerbated by the recent revelations by Criminal Investigation Department former Chief SSP (Retd.) Shani Abeysekera to the Supreme Court on the links between the State’s intelligence agencies and perpetrators of the attack. The endeavour to find out the true perpetrators and those who aided and abetted them, and bring them to justice now look elusive.

The second group that should be held accountable for this crime are those who were criminally negligent with their duties. While this is a lesser crime, those responsible had sufficient information to prevent the attacks and had a duty of care towards the protection of the people who were harmed. 

In this regard, the total exoneration of Jayasundera and Fernando is regrettable since they knew or ought to have known the seriousness of the information they were presented with by a foreign intelligence agency. However, in the pursuit of justice for criminal negligence, it is not acceptable to hold just somebody responsible for the sake of accountability while those who bear greater responsibility walk free. 

This was exactly what was attempted through the indictments of Jayasundera and Fernando. The High Court in its verdict exonerating these officials notes that State Intelligence Service former head Nilantha Jayawardana “had neglected his responsibilities… and had tried to place the blame for the attack on someone else.” The court further noted that “it was unacceptable to file cases against government servants alone when politicians were above them.” 

The politician directly responsible here is former President Maithripala Sirisena, whose actions and tragic inactions directly led to these attacks. The events of the October 2018 Constitution coup and the subsequent usurping of Police powers (against the prevailing Constitution), taking over control of the intelligence agencies, leaving the Prime Minister and other UNP ministers out of security council meetings, ignoring precise warnings provided to the State Intelligence Service (SIS) by Indian intelligence of an imminent attack two weeks ahead, failing to instruct relevant authorities when warned of an imminent attack on the day of the tragedy, arresting and incarcerating the head of the anti-terrorism unit of the Police over bogus charges of an assassination attempt, leaving the country without appointing a minister in charge of defence etc. are all indicative of gross negligence.  

According to the 19th Amendment of the Constitution that prevailed at the time, President Maithripala Sirisena’s action and negligence are not immune from prosecution. It is clear that he has now made a political deal with the ruling party in order to evade justice. If the Attorney General’s Department has an iota of credibility, it should actively pursue those who were criminally negligent for the crime rather than attempting to scapegoat individuals for political motives. 

This should start with former SIS head Nilantha Jayawardena and former President Maithripala Sirisena. As for the actual perpetrators and those who aided and abetted them, we can only hope that justice will someday prevail.