Former President Maithripala Sirisena says his government was unable to suppress the activities of extremist groups, due to action by foreign embassies and NGOs, who worked in defence of the rights of these organisations.
He made this remark testifying before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) investigating the Easter Sunday attacks for the second day.
During the testimony, Additional Solicitor General asked the former President, “During your tenure, did your government not fail to prevent the spread of Islamic extremism in the country despite the fact that the State Intelligence Service (SIS) had kept you and the National Security Council informed about the ISIS activities in the international arena as well as its rise in Sri Lanka?”
To this the witness responded that he was able to take some action with regards to Buddhist extremism using various tactics, including even appealing to the Mahanayake Theras. “However, I had no way of controlling Muslim extremists, as I had no direct contact with their representatives.”
As a government we faced many difficulties in trying to suppress these extremist organization, as many NGOs and foreign embassies came forward to represent them and their rights.”
The Additional Solicitor General then asked, “Former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe stated before the Commission that he was solely responsible for the public mandate you received at the 2015 Presidential Election. How do you respond to that?”
The former President replied, “Well, many such tales are told after an election victory. However, it was only after I became President and the Central Bank bond scam happened, that I realised how much of a ‘political demon’ Ranil Wickremesinghe was. It was by this time that I realised that the marriage was doomed and I had been placed in a difficult position.”
When the Additional Solicitor General went on to ask, “But didn’t Zahran Hashim work in support of you during the 2015 Presidential Election?”, the witness responded that he had no knowledge of this.
“Didn’t you instruct Nalaka de Silva, when he briefed you on Islamic extremist activities in the country, not to conduct open investigations but only monitor them?” asked the Additional Solicitor General.
The witness, denying the claims, said, “I deny such a statement. I have never uttered such instructions to not hold open inquiries into extremists. This is completely untrue.”
He was then asked if he had held the National Security Council meetings weekly during his tenure as President, to which Sirisena replied, “The National Security Council meeting was held monthly because the situation in the country was generally peaceful.”
Retired Appeals Court Judge then asked as to how many National Security Council meetings were chaired by him in 2019.
The former President responded that the National Security Council meetings were chaired by him were held on January 14, February 19 and then again on April 22, after the Easter Sunday attacks.
The Additional Solicitor General then asked him as to why he did not invite the then-PM Ranil Wickremesinghe to the National Security Council meetings. He responded that there is no law that insists on the prime minister attending the National Security Council meetings. The President can invite whoever he feels like at his sole discretion.
He was then asked if he ever banned anyone from attending the National Security Council meetings during his tenure.
To this, the former President responded in the negative and said, “But I instructed certain individuals not to attend due to their behaviour. Such as IGP Puijth Jayasundara, because of various criticisms he was subjected to during his tenure. He would attend the National Security Council meetings but he would spend most of his time using his two mobile phones and would not pay attention to any of the decisions made.”
He went on to say, “I even spoke to him in private and advised him to pay more attention at the National Security Council meetings. He even danced in the Esala Procession in 2018 where afterwards I asked him if the reason he did so was because the Diyawadana Nilame ran out of dancers.”
“Due to such behaviour, I even requested PM Wickremesinghe to speak to him and following this Ranil, Thalatha, Mangala and Malik met with me and discussed Puijth’s behaviour. We then summoned Pujith and advised him, however, we still worked together. All these statements of Pujith that he could never get through to me by phone is a complete lie. Whenever I attended an event and stepped out of the vehicle, Pujith would be right there.”
He added that despite repeated warnings of an attack, top security officials ignored them and neglected their responsibilities.
The Additional Solicitor General then asked “Who were the officials who had neglected their duties?”
In response, the former President said the ex-Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and ex-IGP Pujith Jayasundara must be held responsible.”
The PCoI chairman asked the witness, “Who provided the initial warning of the attack to the IGP and the Defence Secretary?”
Sirisena replied that it was former SIS Director Nilantha Jayawardena.
He was accordingly asked as to why he would not blame Jayawardena for failing to prevent the attack.
The former Head of the State remained silent when the question was raised, however the PCoI chairman went on to repeat the question.
After a while, Sirisena replied the primary responsibility must be borne by the former Defence Secretary and the former IGP.
The PCoI chairman then asked as to who was primarily responsible for the information received, to which the former President replied, “Somehow, someone had to inform me. In that, Hemasiri, Puijth, Nilantha and Sisira are all responsible for this.”
