Country’s top intelligence agency the State Intelligence Service made no such request for the closure of investigations by others into Zahran but judgment says otherwise
by Our Defence Affairs Editor
Delivering the judgment yesterday on the fundamental right petitions against the alleged responsible parties on the Easter Sunday Attack or the Easter Sunday Tragedy in 2019 by extremists motivated by Islamic State ideology, the seven-panel judges of the Supreme Court have noted that “the Director, SIS had requested the IGP in April 2018 a closure of investigations by others into Zahran, which resulted in the SIS becoming the sole investigator into Zahran.”
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| The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka is the highest court in Sri Lanka and the final judicial instance of record. [Photo: Sri Lanka Guardian] |
“The want of attention on the part of the important players heading the security apparatus of this country is unpardonable. There is evidence before this Court that in April 2018, a full one year before the Easter Sunday attacks, the Director, SIS had requested the IGP in April 2018 a closure of investigations by others into Zahran, which resulted in the SIS becoming the sole investigator into Zahran. This casts upon Nilantha Jayawardena a greater burden and responsibility,” the judgment has ruled out.
However, reliable sources in the defence apparatus in Colombo reaffirmed that the country’s top intelligence agency the State Intelligence Service (SIS) made no such request for the closure of investigations by others into Zahran.
“This is a gross misinterpretation by a so-called witness on what actually has happened”, a senior judicial analyst told the Sri Lanka Guardian.
Zahran Hashim is the alleged ringleader of a group of suicide bombers who attacked churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, killing at least 250 people.
