Church in Sri Lanka: Let Easter bombing probe go ‘unhindered’ after spy chief’s arrest

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has called for the ongoing investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings to proceed without political interference, following the arrest of the country’s former intelligence chief on charges of conspiracy and aiding the attacks.

Father Cyril Gamini Fernando, spokesman of the Archdiocese of Colombo, addressed a packed news conference at the archbishop’s house on Feb. 26, asking that the probe be allowed to run its course.

“We kindly request that these investigations be allowed to proceed and that people wait patiently,” Fernando said.

The news conference followed the Feb. 25 arrest of retired Major General Suresh Sallay, who was chief of Sri Lankan military intelligence at the time of the coordinated suicide bombings on Easter morning 2019. The attacks on three churches and three hotels killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners, and wounded more than 500 others.

Two Catholic churches — St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo and St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, a Colombo suburb — accounted for roughly two-thirds of the casualties.

“We want the investigation to move forward unhindered from any quarters,” Fernando told EWTN News after the news conference.

“The law should be above everybody, and it should be impartial and treat everyone equally. Whether he or she is a politician, rich person, military officer, or a businessman, nobody is above the law. If someone has gone against the law and engaged in some criminal act, that person should be brought before the law,” he added.

Sallay was arrested for “conspiracy and aiding and abetting the Easter Sunday attacks,” an investigating officer of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) told AFP.

From arrest to power

Two days after the Easter blasts, Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced his candidacy for the presidential election in November 2019 and won by a large majority with a pledge to stamp out terrorism. Rajapaksa subsequently promoted Sallay to head the State Intelligence Service (SIS).

A 2023 Channel 4 documentary alleged that Sallay had been linked to the Islamist bombers and had met them before the attack. A whistleblower told the network that Sallay had permitted the bombings to proceed in order to influence the presidential election in Rajapaksa’s favor. Sallay has denied the allegations.

“The Catholic Church has always called for investigations to find those responsible for the attacks and bring them before the law to ensure justice for the victims and their families,” Fernando said.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith outside his residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Jan. 13, 2015. | Credit: Alan Holdren/CNA

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo had said in the days following the blasts that he would have canceled the Easter Masses had bombing warnings been passed on to the Church.

Fernando noted that investigations were effectively halted under Rajapaksa’s presidency and did not advance under his successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, either.

“In the last 16 months, from November 2024 to date, the CID has been conducting a comprehensive and independent investigation into the Easter attacks,” Fernando said. He added that fresh investigations began following the Channel 4 broadcast on the conspiracy behind the bombings.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was elected in September 2024, had pledged to prosecute the culprits. He removed Sallay as intelligence chief and launched a fresh CID investigation that led to the arrest nearly seven years after the attacks.

‘Delayed’ but welcomed

Ruki Fernando, a prominent Catholic human rights activist, welcomed Sallay’s arrest.

“Suspicions about his involvement has been raised by many for a long time,” Ruki Fernando told EWTN News on Feb. 27.

“Though delayed, this became more after the revelations by the exiled secretary of a former member of Parliament who was also a Rajapaksa ally,” he said, referring to Hanzeer Azad Maulana, a former aide to ex-paramilitary leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, known as Pillayan, who served as the key whistleblower in the Channel 4 documentary.

Ruki Fernando noted that Sallay was removed as intelligence chief in late 2024 by Dissanayake “after a lot of demands, most notably from the Centre for Society and Religion, led by the OMI [Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate] congregation.”

However, Ruki Fernando cautioned against the use of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) against Sallay, arguing that it “will undermine credibility of investigations, prosecutions, and compromise justice for those killed and injured.”

“The PTA is a draconian, deeply flawed law, abused by all governments including the present one,” he said. Ruki Fernando was himself arrested under the PTA in 2014 alongside a Catholic priest for their human rights work in Sri Lanka’s north.

“It has been strongly criticized by U.N. bodies, domestic and international human rights organizations. This government has promised to repeal the law amid a big campaign by civil movements to repeal it right now,” he added.

‘Investigation and evidence’

Jehan Perera, executive director of the National Peace Council — of which the Catholic Church is a member — told EWTN News that the current government is unlikely to obstruct the legal process.

“Unlike in the past, the government will not block or impede the legal and investigation process from moving forward,” Perera said.

“The investigation and evidence-based legal process is the surest way for truth and justice to prevail,” added Perera, a Catholic.