Catholic Church warns Gammanpila against politicising Easter tragedy

• Rev. Father Cyril Gamini Fernando has stressed ongoing CID investigations must continue without interference 
• Says Church has no interest in reports that former MP Gammanpila plans to make public
• Calls on former MP to refrain from disrupting or interfering with investigation process

Archdiocese of Colombo Spokesperson Rev. Father Cyril Gamini Fernando has demanded former Member of Parliament Udaya Gammanpila to refrain from exploiting the 2019 Easter Sunday tragedy for political gain. 

Speaking to the media yesterday regarding the MP’s threats to publicise two committee reports on the Easter tragedy, Father Cyril Gamini Fernando stressed that the ongoing investigations by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) must continue without interference. He urged the MP to refrain from disrupting or interfering with the investigation process.

Father Cyril Gamini Fernando also clarified that the Catholic Church never requested former President Ranil Wickremesinghe to appoint a committee to investigate the Easter attack. As a result, he said the Church has no interest in the report that former MP Udaya Gammanpila plans to make public.

The Catholic Church’s response came after earlier this week Gammanpila claimed he has access to two unpublished reports related to the Easter attacks and threatened to release them publicly if the current Government fails to do so by 21 October. He vowed to make the reports public if the Government does not commit to releasing them.

The controversy escalated when Cabinet Minister Vijitha Herath responded by giving Gammanpila a three-day deadline to submit the reports to the Government, questioning how he came into possession of such sensitive documents. Gammanpila responded by refusing to hand over the reports unless the Government provided an assurance it would publish them. Herath however dismissed Gammanpila’s ultimatum, affirming that the Government would release the reports at an appropriate time. 

Former President Ranil Wickramasinghe had appointed a three-member committee, chaired by retired Supreme Court judge S.I. Imam, to investigate allegations raised in a Channel Four documentary about the attacks.

Father Cyril Gamini also reiterated the need for impartiality in the ongoing investigations, warning that politicising the tragedy could hinder justice for the victims of the devastating attacks.