President’s Counsel Ali Sabry has told the Court of Appeal that two respondents in a petition filed by Col. Kelum S. Maddumage to prevent his arrest in connection with the ongoing 2019 Easter Sunday carnage investigation––namely, Public Security Ministry Secretary Ravi Seneviratne (retired SDIG) and retired CID Director Shani Abeysekara–– had previously filed fundamental rights petitions in the Supreme Court to prevent their own arrests over the same attacks.

Sabry pointed out that the Attorney General had given an undertaking to the Supreme Court, on 20 October, 2024, that Seneviratne and Abeysekera wouldn’t be arrested.

Sabry said so appearing for Col. Maddumage, formerly of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and current Commanding Officer of the Diyatalawa Military Academy.

The Court of Appeal extended the interim injunction against the arrest of Col. Maddumage till 11 November. The two-judge bench, consisting of Court of Appeal President Justice Rohan Abeysooriya and Justice Priyantha Fernando, issued the order on Tuesday (21) after having considered a writ petition filed by the ex-DMI officer.

Deputy Solicitor General Suharshi Herath, who appeared for the respondents, asked the two-judge bench to lift the ex parte interim injunction that prevented the serving officer’s arrest.

Sabry emphasised that there is no evidence whatsoever to arrest the officer.

The counsel for petitioner questioned the rationale in those who had been under investigation for the lapses on the part of police in the run up to the Easter Sunday attacks supervising the investigations. Declaring that the victims of the Easter Sunday carnage wanted the truth, Sabry alleged that the investigation has now turned into a political game.

Sabry told court that DMI had provided information 11 days before the Easter attack that such an attack was imminent, and Indian intelligence also provided detailed information about the locations and individuals involved. The PC accused the police of being inefficient, thereby paving the way for the attack.

The President’s Counsel, who had also served as the Foreign Minister, pointed out that the current investigation had been based on an unsubstantiated statement made by one Azad Maulana to the UK’s Channel 4. Emphasising that the Channel 4’s source had fled Sri Lanka and was seeking political asylum in Switzserland, the PC said that a commission, headed by Supreme Court Justice Imam that investigated Maulana’s claims, unanimously concluded that the claims had no basis or validity.

At this point, the President of the Court of Appeal asked the Deputy Solicitor General if there was an intention to arrest the petitioner. She replied that the decision to arrest, or not, rests with the investigating officers.

However, she stated that the CID had submitted a 68-page detailed “B report” to the Fort Magistrate’s Court, on 22 July, which includes extensive evidence summaries, including investigative information about the petitioner.

She informed the court that the petitioner is being investigated in connection with an incident where, in December 2018, information was allegedly provided to mislead investigators that the murder of two police officers in Vavunathivu was carried out by the LTTE.

Consequently, two former LTTE members were arrested and detained for investigation. However, investigations conducted after the Easter Sunday attack revealed that the police officers’ murders were carried out by Zahran’s group, the Deputy Solicitor General said. The first arrest had been made by the Vavunathivu police on the same day the two police personnel were killed.

In response, President’s Counsel Ali Sabry stated that it was initially believed the LTTE was responsible for the Vavunathivu murders. Sabry said that it was the police, not the petitioner, who first arrested the two former LTTE members and obtained detention orders from the Secretary of Defence to investigate them.

The PC reiterated that such politically motivated investigations will not allow the victims to find out the truth and that his client, an experienced Army intelligence officer, is being made a scapegoat.

The first clear information that Zahran Hashim’s group had carried out the Vavunathivu killings was received by the DMI (Batticaloa) on 09 April, 2019, and the CID informed of the development on 12 April, 2019, through proper channels.

By Shamindra Ferdinando