{"id":231422,"date":"2023-02-14T16:45:38","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T11:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=231422"},"modified":"2023-02-14T16:46:43","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T11:16:43","slug":"we-cannot-find-conclusively-that-zahran-was-the-leader-of-thawheed-jamaath-long-hidden-malalgoda-report-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/we-cannot-find-conclusively-that-zahran-was-the-leader-of-thawheed-jamaath-long-hidden-malalgoda-report-states\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We Cannot Find Conclusively That Zahran Was The Leader Of Thawheed Jamaath\u2019, Long Hidden Malalgoda Report States\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major controversy has broken out over the contents of the Vijith Malalgoda<\/a><\/span> report on the Easter Sunday attacks<\/a><\/span> commissioned by former President Maithripala Sirisena, that had been released by the Presidential Secretariat following an undertaking given before the Right to Information Commission<\/a><\/span>\u00a0last month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"An information request filed by the Centre for Society and Religion (CSR) to the Presidential Secretariat on 8th<\/sup> February 2022 asking for a copy of the report had been refused on the basis that, \u2018this would cause grave prejudice to the detection of crime or the prosecution of offenders.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An appeal was filed by CSR to the RTIC on 3rd<\/sup> May 2022 with the Presidential Secretariat continuing in its refusal but later, consenting to release the report on 26th<\/sup> January 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Page 13 of the Malalgoda Report that was released states that, the committee, headed by a judge, had not found sufficient evidence to conclude conclusively that the dead suicide bomber Mohammed Zahran<\/a><\/span> (Zahran Hashim) who is alleged to have \u2018masterminded\u2019 the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, was the brains behind the attacks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking to the media soon after, CSR said that, this was evidence of what they had been saying all along, that another \u2018grand force\u2019 other than Zahran had been behind the strikes that killed hundreds including children praying in Easter Sunday services. No justice has been served for these attacks, they said, observing that the Malalgoda Report had not been given even to the members of the Parliamentary Select Committee investigating the Easter Sunday attacks. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For years, controversy has raged regarding the so-called \u2018mastermind\u2019 behind the 2019 attacks that was a key factor leading to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa<\/a><\/span> being elected as President a year later on a nationalist and security wave that swept Sri Lanka. Though the Government said that National Thawheed Jamaath had \u2018links\u2019 to Al Quaida, the international islamist terror network, no evidence was found to substantiate that stand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s Catholic Church had repeatedly asked the political leadership to investigate claims that some members of the country\u2019s intelligence services had been implicated in the attacks. The Church alleged however that, no attention had been paid to their complaints. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently the Supreme Court imposed fines upon former President Maithripala Sirisena and his defence, intelligence and police officials for failure to carry out their constitutional duties to guarantee the security of the country.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The CSR also stated that it had recieved only the executive summary of the report along with the recommendations. There is nothing about the witness testimonies or the investigations, CSR has alleged. It said that it will complain to the RTI Commission<\/a><\/span> regarding the failure of the Presidential Secretariat to release the \u2018full report.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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