• Sees pro-diaspora links to ‘Channel 4’

Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs, and Constitutional Reforms President’s Counsel Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has asserted that the Government stands ready for an international investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.

Despite his emphasis that the relevant investigation would be an international probe and not a domestic one, he expressed scepticism pertaining to Channel 4’s recent exposé on the Easter bombings, claiming that diaspora groups were often seen publishing such controversial videos against Sri Lanka ahead of the annual sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Dr. Rajapakshe made these remarks during a media conference held at the Justice Ministry premises yesterday (7).

Accordingly, he accused the British television (TV) channel of being a “pro-diaspora” institution. Despite these claims, however, he assured that a comprehensive investigation would be carried out into the claims made in the documentary.

Speaking further, he stated that when he, during a Parliamentary speech, had warned the public of such possibilities and that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was recruiting Sri Lankan youth for training programmes, his words fell on deaf ears. “I made a statement in Parliament related to the matter 29 months before the Easter attacks. I was accused of trying to create disharmony and trying to turn the country into a pool of blood. But, 29 months later, everyone’s eyes were opened to the truth,” he said in this regard.

Speaking with regard to the UK’s Channel 4’s most recent and controversial exposé on the series of bombings that shook Sri Lanka on 21 April 2019, Rajapakshe accused the British TV channel of working with diasporas, further claiming that the institution was not one that sought justice for the victims of the attack.