The UN has urged Sri Lanka to deliver concrete results in its long-running investigation into the 2019 Easter bombings that killed 279 people
COLOMBO: The United Nations has urged Sri Lanka to deliver concrete results from its long-running investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings.
UN envoy Marc-Andre Franche said survivors and victims’ families are still waiting for answers despite multiple probes and political pledges.
“Public commitments by the government to pursue justice are important and must be welcomed,” he said at a remembrance service. “But what matters now is results.”
The attacks on April 21, 2019, targeted three churches and three hotels, killing 279 people including 45 foreigners. It remains the island’s deadliest attack on civilians.
Several investigations have pointed to the involvement of state intelligence units in the bombings.
In October 2021, Sri Lanka’s state prosecutor indicted 25 people as co-conspirators in the ongoing case. Police enquiries took a new turn in February with the arrest of retired army major general Suresh Sallay.
Sallay, the former head of the State Intelligence Service, is accused of aiding and abetting the attackers. He has denied the allegations and is being held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Investigators have also alleged a plot to exploit the attacks to create instability and pave the way for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to win power. Rajapaksa announced his presidential bid two days after the bombings and won the November 2019 election.
He was toppled in July 2022 after being accused of corruption and mismanagement. Rajapaksa has also denied involvement in any conspiracy.
At a remembrance ceremony at St. Anthony’s Church, Catholic leader Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said political interference had obstructed justice. “An honest search for the truth… has become extremely difficult due to political interference and lying,” he said.
Security was tight at the commemoration, with armed military personnel guarding the church. Diplomats and religious leaders observed two minutes of silence following the ringing of church bells.
