Opposition MPs seek audience with Bishops Conference on Easter Sunday attack inquiry

By Asiri Fernando

A group of Opposition Parliamentarians met a group of Catholic clergy yesterday to discuss the current status of the investigations launched into the April 2019 Easter Sunday bombings and requested an opportunity to present facts regarding the investigations to the Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka.

The meeting saw a two-hour-long discussion on the Easter Sunday Bombing, alleged lapses in the investigations into the incident and declining democratic space in Sri Lanka, a senior Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) official told Daily FT.

The meeting follows a request by the Chief Organiser of the Opposition SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella to Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka Chairman Rev. Winston Fernando.

Other Opposition Parliamentarians Patali Champika Ranawaka, Dr. Harsha de Silva, Eran Wickramaratne, Manusha Nanayakkara and Nalin Bandara also attended yesterday’s meeting with the Catholic clergy.

In a letter to Rev. Fernando, MP Kiriella highlights that some key pieces of evidence have not been made public, pointing out that only one of eight volumes of evidence and testimonies from witnesses which were recorded for the investigations is currently available for scrutiny.

MP Kiriella also charged that the Government is engaged in a witch hunt of Opposition MPs who have been trying to extract the truth about those responsible for the Easter Sunday bombings.

“Instead of exposing the truth, the Government has taken the step to attempt to take revenge upon Opposition members and activists who were clamouring for the truth,” Kiriella charged.

“It is our firm belief that the aspiration of the Catholic clergy and leadership is to have the chief perpetrators of the attack revealed, and therefore we trust that the reverends will urgently intercede and speak on behalf of Opposition leaders and activists who have continuously voiced theirs (thoughts), both within the Parliament and outside of it,” MP Kiriella added in the letter.