More than six years after the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka, the local Church is urging the government to appoint a special prosecutor to ensure justice for the victims. Source: Vatican News.
Fr Rohan Silva, OMI, Executive Director of the Centre for Society and Religion in Colombo, expressed the Church’s frustration at the slow pace of the inquiry and its determination to keep public attention focused on the need for truth and accountability.
“We have been constantly demanding this appointment,” Fr Silva said, “because the Attorney-General’s Department, which currently handles the case, has not moved with sufficient speed. A special prosecutor would help ensure that charges are filed and justice is not delayed indefinitely.”
On April 21, 2019, Sri Lanka was hit by a series of coordinated suicide bombings targeting three churches and three luxury hotels packed with worshippers and holiday guests on Easter Sunday morning.
More than 260 people were killed, including dozens of children and more than 40 foreign nationals. Hundreds were injured. The blasts were later claimed by a local extremist group inspired by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).
The attacks were among the deadliest acts of terrorism in South Asia’s recent history and left deep psychological, spiritual, and social wounds that continue to mark Sri Lankan society.
“The victims’ families, the Church, and the whole nation deserve answers,” Fr Silva said. “Justice delayed for so many years is justice denied.”
A new administration came to power in Sri Lanka a year ago, pledging to reopen investigations that had stalled under previous governments.
“With the new government, we had expectations,” Fr Silva said. “They promised to revisit the case and to launch fresh investigations into matters that were never properly addressed before.”
The Centre for Society and Religion, together with the Colombo Archdiocese and other civil society organisations, has been pressing for the appointment of an independent special prosecutor dedicated solely to the Easter Sunday case.
“We believe that an independent prosecutor would accelerate the process and ensure impartiality,” Fr Silva said.
“It’s not just the CSR,” Fr Silva stressed. “The Catholic Church, lawyers, human rights activists – all of us have been united in this demand. We fear that, without a special prosecutor, interrogations may take place but formal charges will continue to be delayed.”
FULL STORY
Sri Lankan Church renews call for Special Prosecutor for Easter Sunday attacks (By Linda Bordoni, Vatican News)
