Sri Lanka’s former president Maithripala Sirisena shockingly claimed to know the perpetrators behind the deadly Easter Sunday attacks that killed more than 250 people, almost five years since the bombings.
“No one knows who is behind these attacks, but I do,” Sirisena told reporters in Kandy.
“I am willing to disclose this information before a court of law, but I also ask that this information be kept strictly confidential.”
Sri Lanka’s Minister of Public Security has reportedly ordered an immediate investigation into Sirisena’s claims.
The shocking revelations are in stark contrast to the statements Sirisena had made before, having previously claimed that he had not received prior warning of the attack and could not be held responsible for it.
In October 2020, the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCOI) revealed that Sirisena received several calls from State Intelligence Service Director Nilantha Jayawardena warning him that an attack was imminent, just minutes before bombs ripped through churches and hotels on the island, killing hundreds.
The PCOI revealed that Sirisena received a 63-second call in which Jayawardena had contacted Sirisena’s security official just 43 minutes before the attacks of 21 April 2019. Jayawardena had allegedly contacted Sirisena on multiple occasions to warn him of the foreign intelligence report anticipating the attacks, after it was originally received on 4 April 2019.
Although Sirisena maintained when testifying that he did not receive a call from Jayawardena about the attack until after the explosions, the PCOI stated that this is untrue. Telecommunication analysis carried out by the PCOI revealed that although Sirisena was hospitalized in Singapore during the attack, he was contacted by Jayawardena on several occasions prior to his departure to Singapore.
“There is a time difference between Singapore and Sri Lanka,” Sirisena claimed. “I do not recall receiving a phone call in the morning, since I was hospitalized in Singapore at the time."
Sirisena stated that no security personnel were permitted to be close to him whilst in hospital on the day of the attack, implying that he could not have known about such a call.
Sri Lankan troops in the aftermath of the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.
During an interview with the BBC, Sirisena denied responsibility for the Easter Sunday bombing. When questioned by the BBC journalist, Sirisena lashed out asking;
'if I had known about it, would I have allowed it to happen?'
He further denied responsibility stating,
'Why should I accept responsibility for the Easter attacks? Responsibility should be taken by those responsible'.
Sirisena also added,
‘The president doesn’t go to apprehend moonshiners or rapists or drug peddlers or terrorists himself. The president’s role is in policy, planning, issuing directives and advice – [interruption] – the president carried out those duties properly. It’s the people downward that didn’t [carry out their duties].’
