Category: Breaking News

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka (CBCSL) asked all parties including the Government to stop using the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 21 April 2019 for political gains and implement the recommendations contained in the reports that have already been released by the committees that investigated it.

Former Parliamentarian Udaya Gammanpila recently vowed to release two unpublished reports on the Easter Sunday attacks if the Government fails to do so by today (21), and the Minister of Public Security Vijitha Herath challenged the former to submit them to the Government within three days, citing legal concerns.

Commenting on the exchange of challenges between Gammanpila and Herath to The Daily Morning yesterday (20), CBCSL Spokesperson Rev. Fr. Jude Chrishantha Fernando said that there are already enough reports on the terror attacks such as those compiled by the Committee headed by retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Vijith K. Malalgoda, the Parliamentary Select Committee and the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed in 2019, but what is lacking is action on their findings. “There are more than enough facts and reports based on which justice can be served to the victims of the terror attacks and their families. All that everyone should do is to ask the Government to implement the recommendations in those reports, and the Government should do it.”

Accusing both Gammanpila and Government of attempting to gain political advantages by misusing the matter, he said that the terror attacks should not be something to challenge each other on. “This is not something light. The people are still suffering due to this massacre. Don’t make it something to get political advantages of. If someone has something, they should submit it to the Government, and they (Government) should serve justice. This is not about becoming the first to disclose reports and so on. Everyone should get together and serve justice to the victims instead of challenging each other.”

However, earlier the Catholic Church has strongly campaigned for the expedient release of the two reports.

On 21 April 2019 Easter Sunday, three churches (St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade, and Zion Church in Batticaloa) and three luxury hotels in Colombo (Cinnamon Grand Colombo, The Kingsbury Colombo, and Shangri-La Colombo) were targeted in a series of co-ordinated suicide bombings. Later that day, another two bomb explosions took place at a house in Dematagoda and the Tropical Inn Lodge in Dehiwala. A total of 269 people excluding the bombers were killed in the bombings, including about 45 foreign nationals, while at least 500 were injured.

Meanwhile, Gammanpila said yesterday that the deadline given for President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to release the two unpublished reports regarding the terror attacks would end at 10 a.m. today. He said that the President has until this morning to release the reports and fulfil the constitutional responsibility. Failure to do so, he warned, could result in the risk of impeachment.

Attempts to contact Public Security Minister Vijitha Herath and Secretary to the Ministry, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Ravi Senevirathne proved futile.

The Indian Government last week intervened to prevent the Sri Lankan Government from defaulting on a payment of over $ 1 billion due this coming week under a swap agreement by granting an extension, The Sunday Morning learns.

A sum of over $ 1.7 billion is due and pending this coming week.

This pending amount is a Special Swap Arrangement under the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) mechanism of approximately $ 2.6 billion.

However, it is learnt that after taking into account the nascent economic recovery and the upcoming discussions the new Government of Sri Lanka is initiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India has proactively extended the swap arrangement to support Sri Lanka’s economic stabilisation process.

A highly-placed source told The Sunday Morning that the swap had been extended by India even without the Sri Lankan Government having to engage with the Indian Government and had been done at a diplomatic level.

The source further noted that the Indian side had unofficially communicated the decision to roll over the pending payment to the Sri Lankan Government and that the official communication on the matter would be sent in due course.

When asked until when the extension had been granted to Sri Lanka for payment, the source noted that it would be known in the official communication that was due from New Delhi.

According to the IMF staff report, Sri Lanka’s arrears to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the ACU and penalty interest have been converted into a $ 2.2 billion swap.

The ACU arrears have been combined with another $ 400 million swap given by the RBI to Sri Lanka under a SAARC agreement.

The total $ 2.6 billion is to be settled between the period of 2023-2026.

In the week leading up to the Presidential Election last month, Sri Lanka had reportedly repaid $ 400 million to India, along with an additional $ 200 million towards the debt owed to the ACU.

A private secretary of former State Minister Lohan Ratwatte was found dead with gunshot injuries in a house in Katugastota today.

Police said the 50-year-old secretary was suspected to have shot himself near Lohan Ratwatte’s office at Mahaiyawa.

He died after being admitted to the National Hospital in Kandy.

The Katugastota Police are investigating whether it was a suicide or not.

The Commissioner General of Elections, Saman Sri Ratnayake, has announced that no new nominations will be called for the upcoming local government elections.

He clarified that the election will proceed based on the nominations that were previously submitted.

Speaking at a news conference held in Kandy, Ratnayake further noted that any party who feels this decision has caused them injustice has the option of seeking legal recourse through the courts.

Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga revealed that she was offered a USD 5 million bribe by a family member of a junior Minister in her cabinet when she was the Prime Minister.

Kumaratunga said that the bribe was offered at her office in Parliament at the time to approve a deal with a Singaporean investor.

The former President said that she rejected the deal and threatened to arrest the individual and ordered them to leave.

Kumaratunga said that politicians must have the ethics to have the strength to refuse a bribe.

She noted that a former President had once told his Cabinet they can take bribes but must not get caught.

As a result, Kumaratunga says so many politicians stole and were not arrested.

The former President was speaking at the 45th National Conference of Chartered Accountants held in Colombo.

Former Presidents Ranil Wickremesinghe and Maithripala Sirisena were also speakers at the event.