The Easter Attacks Probe: The Plot Thickens, The Net Closes In

By Kassapa

The only reason recent legal proceedings regarding the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks didn’t get the mileage it deserved was the tragic events at Negombo prison this week which left at least twenty-six people dead. The blame game has begun in earnest regarding that incident but the issue is likely to be pushed away from the news headlines as more revelations emerge regarding the Easter attacks.

Last week, there were two cases being heard in court regarding the Easter attacks. The first were proceedings in the Colombo Magistrate’s court regarding the attacks itself where former head of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) Suresh Sallay was the centre of attention. The second was former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s writ application seeking to prevent his arrest in relation to the attacks, this being heard in the Court of Appeal.

In the former, the political opposition has been making a hue and cry about Sallay’s detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). They claimed he was being detained under inhumane conditions and was subjected to torture. Authorities have maintained that Sallay was being treated as any other suspects, no more, no less. The claims of torture have been refuted in medical reports.

The opposition’s strategy is clear. In parallel to the legal proceedings, they were running a protest campaign in the public domain, attempting to create public sentiment that a ‘war hero’ was being prosecuted and persecuted. Wittingly or unwittingly Sallay himself has played a role in this, staging a ‘fast unto death’ demanding the repeal of the PTA and Sallay’s wife Manori making periodic statements to media after visiting her husband in custody, largely echoing the views of the opposition.

The aim of this campaign appeared to have been to generate sufficient sympathy for Sallay, thereby creating an environment favourable to him during court proceedings. If that was indeed the objective, then it failed spectacularly this week.

Sallay’s legal team made several requests from court: remove the investigation from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID)’s purview, provide him with reading and writing material, allow him to make a confidential statement to the magistrate and have judicial supervision over his access to lawyers. All of these demands were rejected by Colombo Fort Chief Magistrate Pasan Amarasena.

In contrast, two requests by the prosecution were allowed. Court ordered Sallay to disclose the passwords to his mobile phone and his laptop computer, which he had refused to do. They also allowed for Sallay to participate in future proceedings via a video link, thus eliminating much of the drama that surrounds his court appearances and also minimising the risk to him.

Just prior to the hearing Sallay himself appeared to become more sensible about his options. He called off his fast without any concessions being granted, the PTA still being in effect, of course. He claimed he did so on ‘legal advice’ but that is hardly a convincing explanation.

It is now likely that Sallay’s lawyers will attempt to stall the disclosure of passwords to his laptop computer and mobile phone by seeking a writ against this in a higher court. However, if they fail to do so, it remains to be seen what ‘secrets’ were so jealously guarded in his devices and how incriminating they would be, not only to Sallay but to others as well.

It is only natural for the political opposition to politicise Sallay’s detention. However, from Sallay’s perspective, it may not be in his best interests. So far, the courts have handled this manner with a great sense of responsibility and impartiality. If Sallay is indeed innocent, he should go all out to co-operate with his investigators instead of trying to stall them every stage. The latter only sows the seeds of doubt, even in the minds of the judiciary.    

This week also saw Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s writ application against a potential arrest being heard in the Court of Appeal. Observers are wondering whether he has scored an ‘own goal’ in this application, when he has said that he has “no connection whatsoever” with Azad Maulana, a key person in the Easter terror attacks investigation.

The Attorney General’s Department, the respondents in the application, have produced photographs of Rajapaksa with Maulana and a witness statement to the effect that the duo met at Rajapaksa’s Mirihana residence. The lame response from Rajapaksa’s lawyers to this has been that Rajapaksa meets with many people and that this in itself does not constitute an offence. It sure doesn’t, but the photograph is not the only piece of evidence in this puzzle where a fuller picture is slowly but surely now emerging.

Whether prosecutors in the Easter attacks have sufficient evidence to detain Rajapaksa remains to be seen. However, it must be remembered that they had sufficient evidence to convince court to issue a travel ban against him. Naturally therefore, Rajapaksa must be a worried man as must be the entire Rajapaksa family.

If Rajapaksa were to be actually detained, that would mark a seismic shift in the country’s criminal proceedings. It is true that prior to him, his successor Ranil Wickremesinghe was detained but that was on charges of misappropriating state funds to attend his wife’s convocation ceremony in Britain. That alleged offence pales into insignificance in comparison with playing an alleged role in a terror attack that cost some 269 lives!

This is of course easier said than done. Any court will think long and hard before detaining a former President, especially when there is hardly any precedent in Sri Lanka for such a case. The opposition will obviously scream ‘political victimisation’ from their collective rooftops and try to blame the government, forgetting that such orders do not emanate from the government but from the judiciary which even they have conceded has been independent.

There is a sense, both in legal and political circles, that the net is finally closing in on the Easter Sunday terror attack suspects. Interesting times are ahead both in terms of administration of justice as well as its political fallout. Lankans should strap themselves in for an exhilarating ride.