Government rejects Gammanpila’s Easter Sunday report theatrics
Not official findings of Presidential Commission:
Move by RW, Sagala before Presidential Election:
No intention of removing Ravi, Shani from probes:
The government rejected the two reports former MP and Pivithuru Hela Urumaya Leader Udaya Gammanpila has spoken about regarding the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, stating they are politically motivated and lack credibility.
Minister Vijitha Herath addressing the weekly Cabinet media briefing at the Government Information Department yesterday said that these two reports have been unveiled with the only purpose of taking political advantage and the government has already launched a comprehensive investigation into Easter Attack as well as the two reports unveiled by former MP Gammanpila. Cabinet Spokesman Minister Vijitha Herath explained that these reports unveiled by Gammanpila reports were not the official findings of the Presidential Commission findings but rather from committees personally appointed by then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, which served a political agenda ahead of the Presidential elections.
One of the committees investigated police actions prior to the attacks, including the discovery of explosives in Vavunathivu, while the other looked into claims made in a Channel-4 documentary.
According to Minister Herath, these committees were set up shortly after a police conference in June 2024 and submitted their findings to Wickremesinghe, but they were not endorsed by any official inquiry body.
He argued that these reports were a strategic move by Wickremesinghe and Sagala Ratnayake before the presidential election.
Minister Herath also cast doubt on the credibility of one of the committee’s chairs, retired judge A.N.J. de Alwis, who had been asked to resign earlier in her career due to allegations of misconduct. He questioned how such a person could be entrusted with investigating police negligence related to the Easter attacks.
Commenting on the claims in Gammanpila’s reports, Herath emphasised that the Presidential Commission of Inquiry and the Supreme Court did not find former police officials Ravi Seneviratne and Shani Abeysekera guilty of any wrongdoing.
Instead, they found former President Maithripala Sirisena and former Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police (SDIG) Nilantha Jayawardena responsible for failing to act on intelligence that could have prevented the attacks. Sirisena and Jayawardena have been ordered to pay compensation to the victims, but Seneviratne and Abeysekera were not implicated.
The Minister further alleged that the previous government specifically targeted Seneviratne and Abeysekera, who were senior officials in the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at the time of the attacks. Despite this, the current government has no intention of removing them from their recent appointments based on unsubstantiateda claims.
In response to questions about Gammanpila’s reports, Herath reiterated that the government will not accept these findings, but assured that a comprehensive investigation into the Easter attacks is ongoing.
“The government will take necessary legal action against any individuals found guilty through the proper channels. A final decision on appointing a new Presidential Commission of Inquiry will be made after the current probe concludes, with the aim of delivering justice to the victims and strengthening the laws,” he added.
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