UNP asks why American security forces reports on the Easter attack are ignored

The United National Party has issued a special statement questioning why important information and evidence revealed by investigations conducted by American security agencies regarding the Easter Sunday bomb attacks are not being utilized for current investigative activities. The statement indicates that after this brutal terrorist attack on April 21, 2019, local investigative agencies did not possess sufficient expertise to conduct a comprehensive investigation into it.

For this reason, the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe officially requested the American government to conduct a full investigation into the attack and provide a report, and also assured that local authorities would provide maximum cooperation for it.

The day after the attack, on April 22, this matter was also extensively discussed during a phone conversation between then American President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Following that conversation, President Trump issued a Twitter message, stating that the United States of America stands directly with the Sri Lankan Prime Minister and the people of this country in the fight against terrorism, and also conveyed his deepest condolences on behalf of all American citizens.

Accordingly, the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in collaboration with local security agencies including Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department, Military Intelligence, and State Intelligence Service, launched a joint full investigation. Based on all the information uncovered and evidence collected during this process, the FBI also submitted an official report to the Sri Lankan government, and all relevant authorities in the country accepted that report.

As a result of these investigations, on November 12, 2020, FBI Special Agent Merril R. Godwin took steps to file a detailed 71-page affidavit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. After a lengthy two-year investigation process, a criminal case was also filed on December 11, 2020, in the United States District Court in Los Angeles. Mohamed Naufer, Mohamed Anwar Mohamed Riskaan, and Ahmed Milhan Hayathu Mohamed, along with other suspects connected to the attack who were named as defendants in that complaint, were already in custody in Sri Lanka at the time the case was filed.

The United National Party, pointing out that all this investigative information and legal evidence held by American authorities is currently safely with the FBI or the US Department of Justice, questions whether the current government has requested the American government to obtain this evidence, given that new investigations into the Easter attack have been initiated. If such a request has been made, what was the response? If not, what is the reason for not taking such a step? The government should clarify this, and the party emphasizes that arrangements should be made to immediately provide this valuable evidence to the judicial authorities in Sri Lanka.