• Queries the FBI’s investigative process, whom they spoke to, reasoning, lack of consultation with Church

The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has denied the conclusion reportedly reached by the United States (US) Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that National Thowheeth Jama’ath Leader, Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zahran alias Zahran Hashim was the mastermind behind the bombings on the Easter Sunday of 21 April 2019.

It was reported by the media recently that FBI Special Agent Merrilee R. Goodwin had said that Hashim was the mastermind behind the terror attacks, in an affidavit related to the criminal case filed in 2020, in the US District Court in Los Angeles, California.

When contacted by The Daily Morning as to if the Church accepted that (Goodwin’s) conclusion, Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka Spokesperson, Fr. Jude Chrishantha Fernando questioned as to how such a conclusion was reached by the FBI without proper consultation with the Sri Lankan authorities or the Church, which has continuously called for a thorough and transparent investigation. 

"Several commission reports, statements made by former President Maithripala Sirisena and former Attorney General, President's Counsel Dappula de Livera, and revelations made by Channel 4 and other sources clearly indicate that Hashim was not acting alone and that there was a larger conspiracy behind the attacks. In addition, we have our own suspicions. When we take all this into account, it is very clear that someone else was behind Hashim” Fr. Fernando opined. 

He also raised concerns about the FBI’s investigation process, and queried as to how it was conducted, who the stakeholders that they met during their visit to Sri Lanka were, and on what basis they had arrived at their conclusion. “They (FBI) never spoke to us. So, how can we accept what they say just like that?” the church spokesperson added. 

On 21 April 2019 Easter Sunday, three churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo were targeted in a series of coordinated suicide bombings. Later that day, another two bomb explosions took place at a house in Dematagoda and the Tropical Inn Lodge in Dehiwala. More than 270 people excluding the bombers were killed in the bombings, including about 45 foreign nationals, while at least 500 were injured.