Sri Lanka cardinal seeks UN probe into 2019 Easter massacre, ‘a grand, political plot’

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, head of nation’s Roman Catholic church, tells UN initial impression that Islamic extremists to blame does not reveal full story

Attacks targeted three churches, three hotels, killing 279; Ranjith talks of attempts by government to harass and intimidate those wanting justice

Reading Time:2 minutes

Pope Francis (L) with Sri Lanka Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the head of the country’s Roman Catholic Church. A few days after meeting the Pope the cardinal has urged the UN to investigate the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka that killed 279 people, calling the massacre a “political plot”. File photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 8:35pm, 7 Mar 2022

The head of Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic Church on Monday urged the United Nations to investigate the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people, calling the massacre a “political plot”.

In an address to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith demanded a mechanism to probe the attacks, which have been blamed on local Islamic radicals.

“The first impression of this massacre was that it was purely the work of a few Islamic extremists,” Ranjith said. “However, subsequent investigations indicate that this massacre was part of a grand political plot.”

Security forces inspect the site of a deadly church explosion in Colombo, Sri Lanka in April 2019. Photo: Getty Images

The Church has previously suggested that the attacks, which targeted three churches and three hotels in Colombo in April 2019, helped Gotabaya Rajapaksa win the presidential elections in November the same year.

The government has not responded to the Church’s accusations.

Ranjith, who initially supported Rajapaksa’s election as president, said there were attempts by the government “to harass and intimidate those who clamour for justice”.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa (2-L) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (C) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in January. Photo: EPA-EFE

Catholic priests have been summoned and questioned at length by the Criminal Investigations Department over statements critical of the slow progress in investigations.