The Hon. Sunil Watagala, Attorney-at-Law - Deputy Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs
Deputy Minister Sunil Watagala criticized recent publications and public claims concerning the Easter Sunday attacks, suggesting they were politically motivated and should not prejudice ongoing investigations. He said former CID officers, including Shani Abeysekara, were targeted after the previous government took office, citing transfers, travel restrictions and detention, and argued that proper investigation of the Vavunativu incident could have helped prevent the attacks. He stated that reports have been retrieved and given to the CID, trials are proceeding daily, and investigations are underway into ten individuals based on the Janaka de Silva Commission’s recommendations. He called on those alleging failures or political betrayal of national security to name the responsible officials and politicians, while affirming that investigations would continue on an evidence-based basis.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, we know the drumbeats; we know the signals. Those who aided the masterminds sat in the front row at yesterday’s book launch. I will avoid prejudicing investigations.
¶ 02 People who cannot draft a sentence are suddenly “authors.” Pillayan “wrote” a book; as Hon. Shanakiyan said, that is fiction. Even a book on the bond scam by another appears opportunistic. When non-writers start writing, we should be alert. As for lawyers who seldom appear in Easter cases yet write forewords—one should wonder.
¶ 03 You attacked Shani, Ravi Seneviratne, and Aruna Jayasekara. Why? Remember: within 48 hours of taking office, your President transferred 32 CID officers including Shani, and imposed extra‑legal travel bans on 704 CID staff without court orders. Shani was detained for 10 months and 18 days, yet not a single statement was recorded during detention; after bail on 18.06.2021, 27 statements were taken. Detention was used as punishment. These officers had acted honorably on Easter probes; they were targeted.
¶ 04 On Vavunativu: as our Minister said, had that been properly investigated, Easter might have been prevented. Misleading the probe enabled the catastrophe. As for the adjournment motion’s call to “release reports from the shelves”—we have already retrieved and handed reports to CID for action. Trials are being heard daily; the Janaka de Silva Commission’s recommendations are being acted upon, with probes against ten individuals underway.
¶ 05 Regarding the new “book”: I have my own “new” title—“The Book of Udaya’s Brain Hunt.” Even its terminology is off: call it “Easter Sunday Attack,” not “Easter Attack,” out of respect for Catholic devotees. In Rohan Gunaratna’s foreword to that book, it says: “Those then in authority did not properly read the threat, and law enforcers failed to take necessary steps to detect and suppress it.” Who are those officials? The foreword also says: “Some politicians betrayed national security to win elections.” If so, name them. Failing to act on known threats is itself culpable.
¶ 06 Public theatrics will not derail a proper, scientific, evidence‑based investigation. The truth, and the masterminds, will be brought to light.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Thursday, 9 April 2026 ·No. 23475 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Sunil Watagala, Attorney-at-Law - Deputy Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 9 April 2026. No. 23475. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/28679