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Sri Lanka to charge police for ‘lapses’ over Easter attacks
COLOMBO, June 20, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Sri Lankan authorities Thursday ordered
the first criminal charges against security personnel for “lapses” before the
Easter Sunday suicide bombings that killed 258 people.
Nine police officers will face “criminal investigations” for failing to
act on warnings ahead of the April 21 bombings on three churches and three
hotels carried out by Islamic State-backed jihadists.
In a notice ordering the probe, Attorney General Dappula de Livera said an
inquiry commission appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena had found the
officers liable for criminal negligence.
All nine were senior officers in the districts where the attacks were
carried out.
Authorities have admitted that warnings sent by neighbouring India of an
impending attack by a local group, the National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) were
ignored.
Forty-five foreign nationals were among the dead and 500 people were
injured in the attacks. The tourist hotspot has been under a state of
emergency since.
Sri Lanka’s State Intelligence Service (SIS) has been criticized for
failing to act on the Indian warnings.
Sirisena, who is also defence minister and law and order minister, has
also faced allegations that he could have prevented the attacks.
The president has objected to a parliamentary investigation into the
attacks and ordered police not to cooperate. But the hearings have gone ahead
and police have testified before legislators.
Earlier this month, Sirisena sacked national intelligence chief Sisira
Mendis after he testified that the attacks could have been prevented.
Mendis said the president had failed to hold regular security meetings to
assess security threats.
Defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando and police chief Pujith Jayasundara
also suggested Sirisena did not follow proper protocol in dealing with the
intelligence warnings from India.
Fernando was forced to resign, while Jayasundara has been suspended from
duty.
Indian intelligence shared information about the targets — gleaned from a
jihadist in Indian custody — as early as April 4.
BSS/AFP/ARS/2010 hrs