Sri Lankan Leader Says Predecessor Destroyed Security System As Bombing Trials Begin

Sri Lankan Leader Says Predecessor Destroyed Security System as Bombing Trials Begin

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa accused his predecessor of allowing the 2019 Easter bombings to happen by destroying the national security system after his government was criticized for dragging its feet on the probe

NEW DELHI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th November, 2021) Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa accused his predecessor of allowing the 2019 Easter bombings to happen by destroying the national security system after his government was criticized for dragging its feet on the probe.

A string of bombings on hotels and churches on the island killed more than 250 people on Easter Sunday. Trials began on Monday against 25 men accused of carrying out the attacks. An investigative panel also blamed ex-president Maithripala Sirisena and other officials for ignoring intelligence on possible attacks.

"They destroyed national security. The commission report has clearly said the former president, prime minister and the cabinet were responsible for the attacks," Rajapaksa said.

Rajapaksa responded to accusations by Malcolm Ranjith, the head of Sri Lanka's Catholic Church, who doubted that the island's minority Christian population would ever see justice. Rajapaksa's government faces a rift if Sirisena, the chair of the ruling SLPP coalition, is prosecuted.