{"id":201157,"date":"2019-05-02T23:30:31","date_gmt":"2019-05-02T18:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=201157"},"modified":"2019-05-03T09:12:54","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T03:42:54","slug":"hemasiri-will-be-arrested-sirisena-reiterates-to-find-scapegoat-for-easter-sunday-massacre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/hemasiri-will-be-arrested-sirisena-reiterates-to-find-scapegoat-for-easter-sunday-massacre\/","title":{"rendered":"Hemasiri Will Be Arrested: Sirisena Reiterates To Find Scapegoat For Easter Sunday Massacre"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Maithripala Sirisena has reiterated to loyalists at an event\u00a0held on May Day that he would be taking steps to arrest former\u00a0Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Hemasiri Fernando<\/strong><\/a> and IGP Pujith\u00a0Jayasundara<\/strong><\/a> for their security failures that he claims led to the\u00a0Easter Sunday bombings killing 250 people.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Fernando<\/p><\/div>\n

Speaking with loyalists after a May Day event at the Sri Lanka\u00a0Foundation Institute on 1st May President Sirisena said that he had\u00a0received the interim report by a special investigation committee\u00a0headed by sitting supreme Court Judge Vijitha Malalgoda.<\/p>\n

This is reiterating what the President said to security officers at\u00a0the Defence Ministry two days ago even before he had received the\u00a0interim report from the committee investigating security lapses that\u00a0led to the bombings. The statements by the head of state who continues\u00a0to desperately seek a scapegoat even though he has maintained full\u00a0control of the entire security apparatus since October 2018 indicate\u00a0that he was planning to put the entire responsibility for the attacks\u00a0on the two officials and wipe his hands clean of responsibility.<\/p>\n

Colombo Telegraph learns that Fernando is unwell and may seek medical treatment even as the first citizen of the country continues to blame\u00a0him for the cold blooded murder of 250 people in order to protect\u00a0himself and his pet police official SDIG Nilantha Jayawardane who\u00a0heads the State Intelligence Service.<\/p>\n

Colombo Telegraph has already revealed that Jayawardne briefed\u00a0Sirisena<\/strong><\/a> on the intelligence reports about the impending suicide\u00a0attacks on at least three occasions. The SIS head has also given\u00a0testimony to the special investigative panel. However according to\u00a0sources SDIG Jayawardane has tried to deflect blame on to the former\u00a0Defence Secretary for the security lapses while whitewashing President\u00a0Sirisena.<\/p>\n

“They will protect each other,” said a Government official “Nilantha\u00a0knows he told the president. The President knows Nilantha briefed him.\u00a0Obviously the two of them cannot rat each other out so someone else\u00a0has to be the fall guy,” the official said adding that the President’s\u00a0actions were morally disgusting. According to the official the\u00a0President was aware of the threat as early as 10 April when he was\u00a0addressing a public gathering and seemed nervous to remain very long\u00a0at the meeting. He seemed anxious and ill at east. Sources said the\u00a0president may also have taken a longer holiday overseas in the belief\u00a0that he was the actual target of the suicide attacks.<\/p>\n

After Sirisena’s unconstitutional effort to make Mahinda Rajapaksa\u00a0Prime Minister was defeated in December, he refused to give the Police\u00a0Department and the Law and Order Ministry back to the UNP. To date he\u00a0holds the police Department under his defence ministry\u00a0unconstitutionally since the constitution as amended by the 19th\u00a0Amendment only permits him to hold three ministries – Defence\u00a0Environment and Mahaweli. However illegally Sirisena moved to gazette\u00a0the police department under his defence ministry. The UNP and its\u00a0Prime Minister has failed to resist this move or challenge the\u00a0President’s unconstitutional actions in Court for the past six months\u00a0even after the political crisis ended. Which these irresponsible and\u00a0incompetent actions by the Prime Minister have been widely condemned\u00a0by the public at large, the responsibility has to be borne by the\u00a0President who has jealously guarded his Minsitry fo Defence and access\u00a0to high level security officials and intelligence agencies refusing\u00a0toe allow his prime minister and even the IGP to even attend National\u00a0Security meetings even though the composition of the NSC includes both\u00a0the PM and the Head of the Police.<\/p>\n

Related posts:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Exclusive: Sirisena Briefed About Easter Sunday Attacks 10 Days Before: Protects SIS Chief, Lies About IGP And Defence Secretary\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Easter Sunday Bombings: Resigned Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando To Be Arrested<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":191159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2186,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-201157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-featured-news","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nHemasiri Will Be Arrested: Sirisena Reiterates To Find Scapegoat For Easter Sunday Massacre - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/hemasiri-will-be-arrested-sirisena-reiterates-to-find-scapegoat-for-easter-sunday-massacre\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hemasiri Will Be Arrested: Sirisena Reiterates To Find Scapegoat For Easter Sunday Massacre - 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