Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe assures justice for victims of 2019 Easter bombings

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe promised on Sunday that justice would be served to all those who died in the 2019 Easter bombings, which claimed the lives of 270 people, including 11 Indians. He added that the legal proceedings were being handled impartially, independently, and free from any outside interference.

Additionally, President Wickremesinghe vowed that he would do everything in his power to protect national security by ensuring that horrible crimes would never happen again, according to PTI.

270 people were killed and more than 500 were injured in a series of explosions that tore through three churches and as many luxurious hotels in Sri Lanka on 21 April, 2019, carried out by nine suicide bombers who belonged to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ), which is linked to ISIS.

Wickremesinghe said in his Easter Sunday message, “The legal proceedings related to this tragic incident are being processed independently and impartially, without any influence. The necessary groundwork towards this end has been laid, to ensure justice for all the victims.”

“I pledge my unwavering commitment to ensuring the security of our country, by preventing any recurrence of such heinous acts,” the President said, according to PTI.

He also said that the Government is dedicated to realising the aspirations of all Sri Lankans regardless of race, religion, party or colour. “I strongly believe that we can overcome these challenges in the near future,” he said.

The Easter Sunday bombings triggered a political storm as then-President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe were blamed for their inability to prevent the attacks despite prior intelligence being made available.

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on January 12 ordered Sirisena to pay SLR 100 million as compensation to the victims. The former president stressed the attack took place without his knowledge.

As many as 12 petitioners, including the kin of the victims, the Catholic clergy, and the lawyers body Bar Association of Sri Lanka, filed the fundamental rights petition against the then-president for his negligence in preventing the attacks.

A presidential panel of inquiry appointed by Sirisena after the attacks ironically found the then-president guilty of his failure to prevent the attacks.

Sirisena, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge in the case filed after the panel’s findings.

Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, the head of the local Catholic Church, has continued to express his displeasure with the investigation, stating that it is a cover-up.

Sirisena disputes the charge and blames the lapse that led to the coordinated strikes on the then-defence establishment.

With inputs from agencies

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