Attorney General claims “grand conspiracy” behind Easter attack
COLOMBO – There is clear evidence of a grand conspiracy linked to Sri Lanka’s 2019 Easter bombings, the privately owned NewsFirst network quoted Attorney General Dappula De Livera as saying on Tuesday (18).
De Livera, in an exclusive comment to NewsFirst, said information by the State Intelligence Service (SIS), “with times, targets, places, method of attack and other information is clear evidence there was a grand conspiracy in place with regard to the April 21 2019 attack.”
The identities of those involved in the grand conspiracy must come by way of evidence, the AG said, adding that there are multiple suspects connected to the attack including Maulavi (Islamic preacher) Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Naufer, “the person that the Sri Lankan government ruled as the mastermind of the attacks.”
On April 6 this year, Public Security Minister Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekara said Naufer and one Rasheed Hajjul Akbar, both of whom are in custody, had been identified as the only confirmed masterminds of the attack. The minister told reporters that no other suspect had been identified as having masterminded the attacks and stressed that the government has no intention to hide its findings.
The official account has been contested by opposition lawmakers and others, with main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Harin Fernando, in a controversial statement made in Parliament on April 20, claiming that the Islamic preacher was never brought before a presidential commission of inquiry that probed the Easter bombings.
In his comment to NewsFirst on Tuesday, the Attorney General said Naufar was a key figure in the alleged conspiracy, but added it was not possible to confirm if he was the mastermind though he is the leader of the group. “The suicide bombers are the people who executed this conspiracy and they’re not among the living,” the network quoted the AG as saying, and adding that a considerable number of people who assisted the suicide bombers have been identified detectives.
The channel also quoted the AG as saying that the conspirators of these attacks were at a different level and that people like Zaharan Hashim, the leader of the group that carried out the attacks, would’ve been involved in the conspiracy though he decided to explode himself.
“For the moment, the investigators have brought evidence of foreign individuals who are connected to the attacks and these people are referred to as others unknown to the prosecution,” the AG was quoted as saying, while noting it was probable they would never be known.
In a letter written to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and a subsequent statement to the public, AG De Livera on Saturday (15) said he has been unable to press charges or file indictments against the conspirators and abettors of the attack due to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) investigations being incomplete. The AG’s statement prompted Minister Weerasekara to seek a report from the CID.
“I inquired from the CID about the reasons for such a statement at the last moment,” Weerasekara told reporters.
De Livera is expected to retire at the end of this month.
On May 6, he turned down an appointment as High Commissioner to Canada.
The AGs’ Coordinating Officer (CO) State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne was unavailable for comment.
-economynext.com