Sri Lanka’s independent regulator has sacked a senior police officer for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people including 45 foreigners.
Sri Lanka’s National Police Commission dismissed Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Nilantha Jayawardena, then chief of the Sri Lankan State Intelligence Service (SIS), disregarding prior warnings of an impending attack by Islamic extremists.
Court records show that Jayawardena had been alerted to a possible terror strike 17 days before the coordinated suicide attacks on April 21, 2019, which targeted three hotels and three churches.
Photo: AFP
More than 500 people were also wounded in the bombings.
Jayawardena had been found guilty on all seven counts of negligence and dereliction of duty by a disciplinary inquiry led by a retired judge, the police commission said in a statement late on Saturday.
“Considering the gravity of the charges, the Commission decided to give him the maximum punishment,” the statement said.
Following the Easter bombings, Sri Lanka’s worst terror attack on civilians, Jayawardena was removed from his position as SIS chief, but was elevated to the role of deputy head of the police force, overseeing administration.
However, he was placed on compulsory leave a year ago, pending a disciplinary hearing, after repeated judicial orders to take action against him.
A top-level investigation initiated shortly after the attack found that then-Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena and four of his senior officials, including Jayawardena, should face criminal prosecution for their lapses.
In accordance with Sri Lankan Supreme Court orders issued in January 2023 following a civil case, they have paid just over US$1 million in damages to the victims.
The 2019 bombings were blamed on a local jihadi group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has vowed to step up investigations into the Easter attacks and uncover those responsible for the bombings.
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
The United States Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday it plans to adopt rules to bar companies from connecting undersea submarine communication cables to the US that include Chinese technology or equipment. “We have seen submarine cable infrastructure threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, like China,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We are therefore taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership, and access as well as cyber and physical threats.” The United States has for years expressed concerns about China’s role in handling network traffic and the potential for espionage. The U.S. has
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
RSS