Sri Lankan Defence Secretary vows to punish Easter Sunday attackers

by Viruben
Apr 23, 2020

Sri Lankan Defence Secretary, and accused war criminal, Kamal Gunaratne, vowed to “punishing the culprits” behind the Easter Sunday bombing and to strengthen “national security”.

This statement follows a memorial for the Easter Sunday bombings which occurred on 21 April 2019, where over 250 were killed. The statement also follows the arrest of Riyaz Bathiudeen, the brother of Rishad Bathiudeen a former Sri Lankan minister and leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC). Rishad Bathiudeen denies that anyone in his family was involved in the attack and maintains that the arrest of his brother was an act of political revenge.

Gunaratne followed in the lead of Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa who blamed Sri Lanka’s previous administration for a failure to maintain national security.

According to a Sri Lankan parliamentary report, security forces did receive intelligence prior to the attack but may have allowed it to proceed in order to “create chaos and instil fear” ahead of presidential elections.

Gunaratne stated on the Easter Sunday bombing;

“We will bring all those who involved in those bomb blasts, irrespective of their social status, political affiliations, ethnicity or religion to the book […] The government will do the justice for the people, including the children, who died and living with deadly scares and their families”

Gunaratne was commander of the Sri Lankan army’s infamous 53 Division during the 2009 massacres, in which tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed. The unit he headed is accused of numerous abuses, including sexual violence, summary executions and the disappearance of those who surrendered to the military.

 Read Gunaratne’s full statement here.

 

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