Former President says failure to brief him of foreign intelligence reports led to Easter attacks

Former President Maithripala Sirisena arrives at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing the Easter Sunday attacks to give evidence yesterday - Pic by Ruwan Walpola

• Sirisena gives evidence before COI for nearly six hours and says he was kept in the dark about specific threats of terrorist attacks by foreign intelligence agencies
• Says he would have taken steps to prevent the attacks had he been aware of these reports
• Points finger at ex-IGP, SIS Chief and Defence Sec. for failing in their responsibilities
• Gives details of instances where he met with them between 1-16 April, at each meeting of which they failed to brief him of the intelligence reports
• Says the attacks have left him personally greatly aggrieved
• Says he is the first former President to appear before a COI that they themselves appointed

By Chandani Kirinde

Former President and Polonnaruwa District MP Maithripala Sirisena yesterday told the Commission of Inquiry (COI) probing last year’s Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, that had he been informed of foreign intelligence reports of the specific threat of such attacks, he would have taken all measures to prevent it.

“If I had been briefed of these intelligence reports, I would have called off my overseas trip and taken all measures to prevent such heinous attacks from taking place. This calamity could have been averted if those entrusted with the responsibility of following up on intelligence reports had done their job diligently,” Sirisena told the COI during nearly six hours of questioning by the Attorney General’s representative to the Commission Additional Solicitor General Ayesha Jinasena P.C.

The Commission’s members are Court of Appeal judges Janaka de Silva and Nissanka Bandula Karunaratne, Retired Judge of the Court of Appeal Nihal Sunil Rajapaksa, Retired Judge of the Court of Appeal Bandula Kumara Atapattu, and Retired Ministry Secretary W.M.M.R. Adikari.

The COI was appointed on 20 September 2019 by Sirisena when he was President and its term has been extended till 20 December 2020 by current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The former President said he had left the country on 16 April 2019 for Singapore with a stopover at Tirupati in India, noting that it was during his absence the unfortunate incidents took place but that he had been kept in the dark on the serious threat facing the country.

“On 8 April I had the monthly meeting with the IGP, SIS Chief and senior police officers, which I have held since I took over Law and Order Ministry in December 2018. On 10 April I visited Batticaloa and the then IGP Pujith Jayasundera was with me the whole day. On 14 April, Jayasundera and the then Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando came to greet me for the New Year. On 16 April, the day I left Singapore, the IGP came to see me off at the airport and even boarded the plane and wished me a safe journey. At none of these meetings was I told of the foreign intelligence report received on 4 April with a specific threat of terrorist attacks,” Sirisena said.

He also revealed that DIG Rohan Silva who was head of the Presidential Security Division at the time had sent a letter to the head of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) Nilantha Jayawardena on 1 April, asking for a threat assessment report ahead of the Sirisena’s visit to Batticaloa, and had received a reply on 10 April, where there was no mention of a threat of terrorist attacks but only warning of possible unrest among various groups in the area, and also that of the 130 Muslim youth identified as leaning towards ISIS ideology - 30 of whom were from Batticaloa.

The former President said had he been aware of the intelligence report received on 4 April, he would not have made the visit to Batticaloa, nor would the PSD have allowed such a visit to go ahead. “I would have focused all attention on dealing with such a threat had I known of it. I would have informed the Cardinal and consulted with the security establishment to have these attacks stopped. These incidents are the worst black mark in my political career and personally it has left me greatly aggrieved,” he said.

Sirisena said he was receiving medical treatment in Singapore when he got news of the attacks on 21 April. “My security personnel gave me the first information they had seen on social media. Then my Secretary Udaya Seneviratne telephoned me and told me some terrorist attacks had taken place. Next Nilantha Jayawardena called me and told me what had happened,” Sirisena said.

He added that when he asked the SIS Chief why he had failed to brief the President of such an important matter as specific foreign intelligence reports, he was told by Jayawardena that he had informed the IGP and Defence Secretary to follow up but they had failed to do so.

During the course of providing evidence, Sirisena said that reports of growing extremism among some sections of Muslim youth had come in from around 2017/2018 but that there was no information regarding terrorism. “What was coming in were reports of clashes between these various groups. As there was a growing number of ISIS attacks worldwide, there were also reports that some of these groups might have been getting attracted to that ideology, which is why I not only briefed and directed those involved in intelligence and security to monitor and ensure these are kept in check, but also met with Muslim religious leaders who were against these forms of extremism, and instructed them to ensure these groups do not propagate such ideology.”

Sirisena added that it was around January 2019 that the name of Zaharan Hashim had come up at the National Security Council (NSC) meetings, and that he directed that the man must be apprehended promptly. “There was a warrant for his arrest for a long time, and you don’t need the President to give such a directive. The Police should have done its job and arrested the man.”

The former President also said that in 2017 there was a discussion in the NSC on the need to ban the niqab or full face covering dress worn by some Muslim women as one of the measures to curb growing extremism, but this was stopped by then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe who shot down the move saying it needs to be discussed further.

“This matter went before the Cabinet and there was resistance and could not be implemented. I believe that the reason was because the then Government (UNP-led) had only 106 seats in Parliament and were afraid that it would offend the minority party members who supported it in Parliament.”

The former President will continue providing evidence before the COI on 12 October.

Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will give evidence before it today.