The Easter attacks: the Fallout Continues

 By Kassapa

The nation was delivered the shock news this week that a former Inspector General of Police (IGP) and a former Secretary to the Ministry of Defence had been sentenced to death for criminal negligence that led to the deaths of about 270 persons in the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks. The sentences imposed on Pujith Jayasundara and Hemasiri Fernando respectively, despite the fact that the death sentences will not be carried out, provoked a mixed reaction.

There were those who said that justice was being done at last. Nevertheless, they seem to be outnumbered by those who felt that Jayasundara and Fernando were not the real culprits and were being made scapegoats when others who should be held more accountable still roamed free. Mention is being made in particular of former President Maithripala Sirisena and his head of the State Intelligence Service, Nilantha Jayawardena.

No one would disagree that Jayasundara and Fernando should have been more professional in discharging their duties. When a Police chief is given an imminent warning that several terror attacks are to be carried out, he shies away from that by submitting a memo to his subordinates that says, ‘For Necessary Action’. If that is not negligence, what is, one can ask.  

Nevertheless, it has to be recognised that the verdict was not unanimous. The dissenting judgment was scathing about the role played by SIS chief Nilantha Jayawardana. This will surely be grounds for appeal to the Supreme Court. Jayasundara posed the same question to court, how could others more directly involved in monitoring intelligence not be punished when he is handed a death sentence?

Pleading in mitigation of their sentences prior to the punishments were announced both Jayasundara and Fernando stressed that they were not murderers and that their actions- even if they were more of omission than commission- did not have a criminal intent. This, no doubt will be submitted to the Supreme Court in their appeal.

The ruling National Peoples’ Power (NPP) has wisely kept away from discussing the verdict, at least for now. Sirisena was asked about the judgment and maintained a straight face while saying that he did not wish to discuss judgments delivered by courts. Still, he must be a worried man. The dissenting judgment noted that preventing the attack was also a responsibility of the Minister of Defence who in this instance was Sirisena.

It must be noted punishing Jayasundara and Fernando is only one aspect of the Easter attacks investigations. This deals with the negligence of those involved in preventing the attacks which must also be read against a backdrop of the hostile relationship that existed between Sirisena and his Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at the time.

More work is currently being done to ascertain the actual perpetrators of the attack. This is where the detention of former Intelligence chief Suresh Sally has become a focus of attention. Sallay has tried to stall every move of the investigators both in court and outside it, launching a so-called ‘fast unto death’ before calling it off.

Sallay’s detention was a controversial and sensational move but that could pale into insignificance if those politically aligned with him are taken into custody, particularly Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa is obviously concerned enough to submit a writ application to court, preventing his arrest. That case is currently being heard and is attracting significant attention.

It does not take a genius to conclude that all the public posturing and debate against the detention of Sallay by a few opposition stalwarts, mostly with affiliations to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), were not intended to save Sallay himself. They were trying to whip up public sentiment on the theme of ‘saving war heroes from prosecution’, thus preparing the ground for an outpouring of sympathy if Gotabaya Rajapaksa was to be apprehended.

The latest we hear is that several politicians including Dilith Jayaweera, Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila are to be charged with contempt of court for casting aspersions on the judiciary regarding the detention of Sallay. It will be extremely interesting to observe how these proceedings conclude.

Therefore, whether the public likes it or not, any court proceedings linked to the Easter Sunday terror attacks now have a political connotation. The NPP rode to power promising to unearth the truth behind the attacks, instead of merely punishing officials for negligence. It appears that is happening now and other political parties, most notably the SLPP are feeling the repercussions of this.

If it were to emerge from investigations that the attacks were staged to enable the SLPP to gain power in 2019, that would decimate an already debilitated political party and ruin Namal Rajapaksa’s aspirations for national leadership forever. Of course, the probe hasn’t reached such a definitive stage yet and obtaining conviction in a court of law after proving the guilt of those responsible is a different story altogether. However, initial reports suggest that this is the direction in which the probe is heading.

It is up to the government to now complete the task it began. To do so, it also needs the support of the judiciary to decide on cases both speedily and also without fear or favour. There are signs that under the dispensation of the Judicial Services Commission headed, ex-officio, by Chief Justice Preethi Padman Surasena, this is happening. This is also another reason why the opposition is all out to try and scuttle the proposed constitutional amendment that proposes to extend the retirement age of all judges.

There is one institution that is however still dancing to its own music and that is the Attorney General’s Department. It is taking its own time to prosecute people and sometimes not doing so at all. This can be easily overcome if the NPP sticks to its electoral promise and sets up an Independent Prosecutor’s office but for reasons best known to the NPP, it hasn’t done that.

It maybe seven years since the Easter Sunday terror attacks, but this is only the beginning of its political fallout. For many, it could also be the beginning of the end.