Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Sri Lankan Parliament should decide on the nature of the probe into the allegations by the recent Channel 4 video on the Easter Sunday attacks, Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha said today.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe proposed an international probe on the Easter Sunday attacks as soon as he was sworn in as the President of Sri Lanka last year. However, he had not received any favourable response from any party on this matter. Therefore, it is up to Parliament to decide on the nature of the probe,” the Minister who made a statement in Parliament said.

I predicted an extremist attack in Sri Lanka 29 weeks before the Easter Sunday attacks and I was heavily criticised by the Ministers and MPs of the government whom I belong to. The entire nation became a victim of the Easter Sunday attacks as a result of negligence,” he added.

The Minister then referred to a remark by TNA MP Shanakiyan Rasamanikkam who played an audio clip in the House on Thursday whilst alleging that there has been a manipulation of justice in releasing TMVP Leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan who was in prison.  Rasamanikam claimed that the clip was given to him by Asath Mawlana whom Channel 4 identified as their whistle-blower.

MP Rasamanikkam seems to have more clips and information given to him by Mowlana. If so, he should produce them to the CID,” Minister Rajapaksha also stressed. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Sirwardana)