COLOMBO — A lawyer for Sri Lanka’s former intelligence chief Suresh Sallay has questioned the independence of the continuing investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, arguing before the Court of Appeal that criminal investigations should remain free from political and religious influence.
President’s Counsel Sanjeewa Jayawardena, appearing for Maj. Gen. Sallay, made the submissions on Monday, Aug. 10, as the court considered applications by several parties seeking to intervene in Sallay’s challenge to his arrest and detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
The case was heard before a two-judge bench comprising Court of Appeal President Justice Rohantha Abeysuriya and Justice Priyantha Fernando.
Jayawardena referred to recommendations by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry headed by Supreme Court Justice Janak de Silva, which investigated the Easter Sunday attacks, and argued that political interference in criminal investigations should be avoided and that the independence of institutions involved in the administration of justice should be protected.
He also cited a statement made in Parliament by Leader of the House Bimal Rathnayake concerning calls from members of the Catholic community for former Criminal Investigation Department director Shani Abeysekara and former senior police officer Ravi Seneviratne to be involved in the investigation.
Jayawardena used the statement to question whether investigators associated with political groups could conduct an inquiry that would be regarded as impartial.
He further argued that religious leaders should not seek to influence criminal investigations or determine which officers should conduct them.
Drawing a comparison with previous terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, Jayawardena referred to the 1987 Aranthalawa massacre and the 1998 bombing of the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. He argued that Buddhist religious leaders had not demanded that particular investigators be appointed to investigate those attacks.
The submissions represented arguments advanced on behalf of Sallay.
Jayawardena also argued that Sri Lankan authorities had received intelligence about the threat of Islamist extremism before the Easter Sunday attacks but had failed to take adequate preventive action.
At previous hearings, Sallay’s lawyers have maintained that he had warned the country’s security establishment about the spread of Islamic State ideology years before the bombings and had proposed measures to counter the threat.
Sallay, a former director of the State Intelligence Service and former head of military intelligence, is challenging his arrest and detention in connection with the renewed investigation into the April 21, 2019, Easter Sunday attacks.
The coordinated suicide bombings targeted churches and luxury hotels, killing more than 260 people and injuring hundreds.
The litigation has also drawn the intervention of Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, who has argued that the current investigation should be allowed to proceed without interference. Appearing for the Cardinal at an earlier hearing, President’s Counsel Shamil Perera told the court that the Archbishop had intervened on behalf of the victims and maintained that previous investigations had failed to adequately uncover the circumstances surrounding the attacks.
The competing submissions have placed a broader question before the court: whether the renewed investigation represents a long-delayed attempt to establish accountability for the Easter Sunday attacks, as the Cardinal and victims’ representatives contend, or whether aspects of the inquiry have been compromised by outside influence, as Sallay’s lawyers argue.
The case is continuing before the Court of Appeal.
