News
Church leaders welcome release of parish sacristan
The Catholic Church leaders have welcomed the release of a parish sacristan on Feb. 9, a month after he was detained on the suspicion of planting a hand grenade inside his church.
Selvadore Francis Munindran and three others, including a nine-year-old child, were detained on Jan. 11 after a live grenade was found inside the All Saints Church near Colombo.
The grenade recovery and arrests happened three days ahead of the local Church’s commemoration of the 1,000th day of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
Colombo Additional Magistrate Rajindra Jayasuriya ordered Munindran’s release after the government’s legal representative told the court that no criminal charges were being pressed against the suspect due to insufficient evidence.
The three other suspects in the case were released a week earlier.
Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith had protested the arrests of “innocent people” in the case and even boycotted the official Independence Day celebration. He also met Munindran while he was under detention on Feb. 4.
Church officials say police arrested those who reported the crime than identifying the real culprits.
Munindran was instrumental in preventing a blast at the church, said Father Jude Chrisantha, the archdiocesan director of mass communication.
“He is a gentleman and the Cardinal Ranjith had visited him to express the Church’s gratitude to him,” he said.
Neville Abeyratne, the President’s counsel and attorney-at-law said that although it was initially reported that the hand grenade was planted by church workers, their innocence had now been confirmed.
“There is no need for the Catholic church or the cardinal to keep a bomb in the church,” he said.
Abeyratne called for further investigations to uncover the truth behind the incident and the arrests of the real culprits behind it.
He said the incident reveals “a dangerous situation that raises serious suspicions” because the grenade was found near the residence of Cardinal Ranjith.
The Catholic Church, led by Cardinal Ranjith, has been highly critical of the manner in which the Sri Lankan government went about the investigations into the Easter bombings and the conspiracy behind them.
Nuwan Fernando, a Catholic businessman from Colombo, pointed out that the grenade incident had come days after Cardinal Ranjith had hinted at the possibility of another politically motivated attack.
“We believe that politicians wanted to create a misleading story but God prevented it from happening,” said Fernando who was present at a rally marking the 1,000th day of the Easter Sunday bombings. (UCAN)
President Anura Kumara Disanayake met with Ms. Severine Chappaz, the newly appointed Head of Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on Tuesday (25) at the Presidential Secretariat.
Discussions focused on the ICRC’s support for the new government’s policy framework. As part of this collaboration, the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society has agreed to provide technical assistance and capacity-building support to strengthen the Office on Missing Persons (OMP).
President Disanayake highlighted that the budget 2025 has allocated funds for on-going programs related to searching for missing persons.
Additionally, the President announced plans to celebrate “Sri Lankan Day” as a national initiative aimed at fostering unity and strengthening the country’s collective identity, transcending ethnic and religious differences.
The President expressed his gratitude to the ICRC for its humanitarian operations in Sri Lanka since 1989 and acknowledged its continued commitment to the country.
The meeting was also attended by Roshan Gamage, Senior Additional Secretary to the President, and Ruwanthi Jayasundara, Communications Manager of the ICRC.
The government is contemplating the implementation of a collaborative tourism initiative between the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
This initiative was discussed on Tuesday (25) during a meeting at the Presidential Secretariat between President Anura Kumara Disanayake and the High Commissioner of the Republic of Maldives, Masood Imad.
During the meeting, the High Commissioner congratulated the government on its recent electoral victory and expressed his satisfaction with the positive changes taking place in the country following the election results.
The discussions also emphasized the longstanding 60-year diplomatic relationship between the Maldives and Sri Lanka, focusing on strengthening and advancing this bilateral partnership.
President Anura Kumara Disanayake acknowledged and expressed his appreciation for the Maldives’ unique contributions in fortifying the ties between the two nations.
The meeting was attended by several senior officials, including Senior Additional Secretary to the President Roshan Gamage, Maldives Foreign Secretary Fathimath Inaya, and Additional Secretary Aminath Abdulla Didi.
A meeting between President Anura Kumara Disanayake and the Indonesian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Dewi Gustina Tobing, took place on Tuesday (25) at the Presidential Secretariat.
During the discussion, Ambassador Tobing extended Indonesia’s well wishes to the new government and reaffirmed Indonesia’s commitment to strengthening the 70-year-long friendship between the two nations.
The Ambassador highlighted that both Sri Lanka and Indonesia recently held simultaneous elections and established new governments. She further stated that Indonesia’s current administration will support the “Clean Sri Lanka” programme, noting that measures have been taken to implement a similar initiative in Indonesia.
The discussions also focused on establishing vibrant trade agreements and free trade arrangements between the two nations.
Additionally, both parties explored opportunities to expand markets in a mutually beneficial manner while further strengthening economic, social and cultural ties.
Senior Additional Secretary to the President, Roshan Gamage and Indonesian Deputy Ambassador, Fiki Oktanio, were also present at the meeting.
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