COLOMBO (UCAN): The United States (US) has charged three Sri Lankans over the deaths of five Americans during the Easter Sunday terror attacks in Colombo in 2019 (Sunday Examiner, 28 April 2019).
A group of nine suicide bombers affiliated with local Islamist extremist group, National Thowheed Jamath, targeted three churches and three luxury hotels, killing at least 279 people including 37 foreign nationals and injuring 500.
The US Justice Department announced that three Sri Lankan citizens have been charged with terrorism offenses including conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation.
The men were part of a group that called itself ISIS in Sri Lanka.
“The three defendants are named in the criminal complaint, all of whom pledged allegiance to ISIS. Mohamed Anwar, Mohamed Riskan, Mohamed Naufar and Ahamed Milhan Hayathu Mohamed were charged last month in a federal court in Los Angeles with conspiracy and providing and attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation,” said the statement on January 8.
It said Naufar, the second emir for ISIS in Sri Lanka, who allegedly led the group’s propaganda efforts, recruited others to join and led a series of multi-day military-type training sessions.
Riskan allegedly helped manufacture the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used in the Easter attacks.
Hayathu Mohamed, who allegedly executed a police officer in order to obtain the officer’s firearm, shot a suspected informant and scouted a location for a separate terrorist attack, it is claimed.
“All three defendants are charged with conspiring to provide, providing and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Additionally, Naufar and Milhan are charged with aiding and abetting the receipt of military-type training from ISIS,” said the report.
“I know that you personally cry from the bottom of your heart every day. I came here to pray for you that the Lord will wipe away your tears since human beings cannot do so”
Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith
In Sri Lanka, a Presidential Commission of Inquiry was appointed to investigate the Easter attack. The previous government was blamed for its inability to prevent the attacks despite the prior intelligence made available about the impending attack.
On January 3, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith of Colombo visited people who lost loved ones in Easter Sunday bombings.
“I know that you personally cry from the bottom of your heart every day. I came here to pray for you that the Lord will wipe away your tears since human beings cannot do so,” said the cardinal.
The report said that Rick Hanna, the US attorney for the Central District of California, said, “We charge these defendants with bearing their share of the responsibility for these deaths. According to these charges, the defendants were committed supporters of ISIS, recruited others to ISIS’s violent cause, purchased materials for and made IEDs, helped to prepare and trained others who participated in the attacks, and murdered in the name of this deadly foreign terrorist organisation,” said the report.
“They are in custody in Sri Lanka. We fully support the Sri Lankan investigation and prosecution of these terrorists and will continue to work with the authorities there to pursue our shared goal of holding these defendants accountable for their crimes.
“At the same time, these charges reflect that the US justice system remains a powerful tool to bring to bear against those who harm our citizens abroad. We will continue to pursue justice for the victims of these heinous attacks and for all American victims of terrorism.”
In a letter to the secretary of the Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in December 2020 lawmaker, Wijedasa Rajapaksa, asked that the funds forwarded by the World Muslim Alliance be distributed among victims.
Media reported that $38.7 million was allocated for the victims but they have not received any of the funds.
Antony Sebastian, one of the victims, said “We are still waiting for the government to do us justice; it happens out of genuine interest, not out of a lot of commissions. It is important that at least the names of some of these people are pronounced in the US court,” he said.
Nuwangi Fernando, another victim, said no one has been punished so far.
“Politicians only sell the story on stages to protect their power. We sometimes feel that justice will never be done in our lifetime from our politicians since they are greedy for power,” she said.
