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Centre for Society and Religion refuses to give Easter attack report to CID
The Centre for Society and Religion (CSR) has turned down a request by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to hand over a copy of the report on the Easter Sunday attacks given to the centre by a delegation of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MPs this week.
CSR Executive Director Rev Fr Rohan Silva said on Friday that CID officers had requested a copy of the above report. He noted that the report which the SJB MPs submitted to him will be forwarded to the respective Catholic Bishops. Therefore, Fr Silva said the CSR was not in a position to agree to the CID’s request.
The SJB Parliamentary delegation led by Chief Opposition Whip Lakshma Kiriella, claimed that the report it handed over contained “vital information that had been concealed by the Government.”
Police Spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana said that the CID had made the request from the CSR on the grounds that the SJB claimed it contains some vital information in relation to the Easter attacks. He said this was to support the ongoing CID investigation into the attacks. “There was no ulterior motive in the request,” he insisted.
However, SJB MP Dr Harsha De Silva blamed the police, saying that they had “no ethical right” to request the report from the Church. “If they wanted the report, they should have asked from us and we would have given it to them. This is an act of state intimidation,” he stressed.