By Saman Indrajith

Education Minister Prof GL Peiris yesterday called on the Attorney General to initiate the process of prosecuting those responsible for the Easter Sunday carnage on the basis of the investigations that had already been concluded.

Participating in the adjournment debate on the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on Easter Sunday terror attacks, the Minister said that 36 investigations had been completed and their files sent to the AG for legal action.

The Minister said: The Presidential Commission of Inquiry is not a court of law that decides who the offenders or wrongdoers are and impose punishments. A commission has no police powers to conduct investigations.  However, the PCoI remaining within its mandate and terms of reference has done an outstanding job. The government is duty bound to implement the recommendations of the PCoI and there is no doubt about it. That is certain. There are some wrong wrong opinions being expressed about the Cabinet subcommittee chaired by Minister Chamal Rajapaksa. There was no independent probe by that subcommittee. It was entrusted with a separate task. The final report of the PCoI into the Easter Sunday attack contains many recommendations in hundreds of pages. That report is very complex. The government needed to decide which recommendations should be implemented on a priority basis.

“The Subcommittee was expected to instruct the government on the implementation of the PCoI report’s recommendations. There are some recommendations that could be implemented at once.

“If the Mawanella incident, where several Buddha statues were damaged, in my opinion had been properly investigated, the Easter Sunday catastrophe could have been averted. in the aftermath of that incident several persons were taken into custody. Unfortunately, they were released. We can apprehend the policemen who released them and take action against them. In addition, we can find who ordered the release of the suspects and take action against them.

“Regarding the Easter Sunday carnage affair, we must first ascertain the different tasks to be completed by the government, the Attorney General and courts. When these three are mixed there is confusion in the public mind. The government acts through the Police – the CID and the TID. In that regard a heavy load of work has been completed. Around 99 have been arrested for their involvements in the incidents and events that have links to the Easter Sunday carnage. Thirty-six investigations have been completed.

“I studied this report and observed that there are clear indications and details about the incidents and persons. Those are not general statements but very specific ones.

“Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith went before the court asking for an investigation into a suspected hoard of 6,000 swords and knives and to obtain a court order to ascertain the truth. The police could do the same even without a court order. The IGP has issued orders to detail two teams of policemen for the purpose. These weapons pose a threat. Therefore, they must be found, and the threat removed. They have been imported. Then who was involved in getting them released from the Customs. It is not an easy task to get a stock of 6,000 swords and knives through the Customs. There should have been a political involvement and the police are conducting investigations.

“The next issue is the suspected foreign involvement. Not even the LTTE had been able to carry out eight bomb attacks from Colombo to Batticaloa within two three hours. Who funded that process? Who facilitated them? Who aided and abetted them? To find answers for those questions the government is not only investigating the local persons but also people abroad to find their links. We have discussed the matter with foreign governments. Up to this point, we have made 54 arrests in five countries and got around 50 of them extradited to Sri Lanka. There is a process of getting the remaining persons extradited. There is a reference in the report to an incident in Qatar in October 2020, following which several persons were arrested. Some of them are not Sri Lankan citizens. Some of them who had links with them have gone to Australia, but they too have been traced and investigated. So, the government has performed well in the investigations to find those responsible for the crime as well as to ensure that there would be no recurrence of such incident.

“Then there are questions about the money trail of this affair. There is a question whether there had been pumping of funds from abroad for this attack and its preparations. There are important recommendations and a mentioning that a Turkish organization by the name of FETO sent funds to Sri Lanka. FETO is an armed insurgency organization against the Turkish government. The PCoI report mentions that organization too has channeled funds to those involved in the Easter Sunday attacks. This shows that the government has done its work, and nothing has been left behind.

“Thirty-six files of completed investigations have been sent to the Attorney General for further actions. Thereafter it is up to the Attorney General to proceed with prosecutions. The government and police have completed their investigations. The Attorney General should make an independent decision as to whether the available evidence is enough to institute legal actions. We as the government would ensure that the process would be cleared of politics so that no innocent person would be targeted, or no responsible person would be exculpated because of his rank or powers. The process is impartial. We do not instruct the Attorney General. We have no powers or need for that. It is not possible to file all those 36 cases at once. There are religious leaders demanding justice. We call on the Attorney General to act fast regarding the matters for which the cases could be filed in courts.

“The report also contains recommendations regarding the Madrasa schools. In this regard the Ministry of Education has a special responsibility. I think that there are around 365 registered Madrasas in the country. In addition, there are separate institutes under various names. There is a need to regulate them. Those who are under the age of 16 cannot go to such unregulated and unregistered institutes. That is illegal. We must find what is being taught there, who is giving funds to them and who is maintaining them.

“The government hopes to bring new laws regarding money laundering, extradition, terrorist funding etc., because the extant laws are not enough to address the complex challenges in the present times.”