By A.J.A. Abeynayake

Former State Defence Minister Ruwan Wijewardena on Tuesday (14) told the special three-member Colombo High Court bench that the then State Intelligence Service (SIS) Chief DIG Nilantha Jayawardena had apologised to him for not informing him of the intelligence alert regarding impending Easter Sunday attacks.

Evidence was led by Deputy Solicitor General Sudarshana de Silva.

Wijewardena said that though he had been appointed the Acting Minister of Defence on about five occasions when President Maithripala Sirisena went overseas the relevant letters of appointment were always delivered to him only after the President’s return.

Wijewardena said that DIG Jayawardena had admitted to having made a mistake by not providing all intelligence information to the State Defence

Minister though it had been sent to the Defence Secretary, the IGP and others via Whatsapp.

The former State Defence Minister said he had received a call from the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe soon after the Easter Sunday attacks. Although on the PM’s instructions, the Defence Secretary, the IGP and others had been invited to Temple Trees on four occasions none of them had turned up, Wijewardena said.

Wijewardena quoted Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando as having told him that the National Security Council couldn’t be summoned without the President’s approval. He said he hadn’t been able to reach President Sirisena, who was away in Singapore at the time.

Wijewardena said that at the beginning of yahapalana administration the National Security Council had met every Wednesday and the security review meeting had been held on Tuesday. However, later the National Security Council met once or twice a month whenever President Sirisena summoned meetings.

Wijewardene said that at a meeting attended by both the President and the Prime Minister he had proposed in 2018 that the Chief of National Intelligence (CNI) be given wide powers and all services share information. But that proposal had not been implemented, the former MP said, adding that he and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had not been invited to attend the National Security Council meetings since 20 Dec. 2018, and the Defence Secretary had told him they were not invited because the President didn’t like their presence.

Although he had been appointed the State Defence Minister as an elected MP, he had not been able to perform his duties and functions due to President Sirisena’s conduct.

Hearing resumes today (15)