Aug 12, 2021: Sri Lanka has filed 23,970 charges against 25 people in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings of churches and hotels, according to the president’s office.

Allegations filed Tuesday under the country’s anti-terrorism law include conspiracy to commit murder, aiding and abetting murder, stockpiling weapons and ammunition, and attempted murder, the President’s office said on Wednesday.

The Attorney General also asked the Chief Justice to appoint a three-member special bench of the High Court to expedite the hearing of cases.

Two local Muslim groups that allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS (ISIS) have been blamed for a series of suicide bombings on April 21, 2019, targeting three churches and three hotels.

Another suicide bomber who entered the fourth hotel left without planting his bomb, but later detonated his explosives at various locations. The friction and communication breakdown between then-President Maithripala Sirisena and then-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was blamed on the government’s failure to heed specific foreign intelligence warnings before the attacks.

As a result, in 2019, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected on the national security platform. Rajapaksa was a former army officer and a defense official who played a decisive role in defeating the Tamil Tiger rebels and ending the 26-year civil war.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Colombo, has repeatedly accused the bombings of not being properly investigated. He said he believed the real conspirators still existed on a large scale and accused the authorities of trying to save the mastermind.

Ranjith wrote a strong letter to Rajapaksa last month, alleging that some members of the state intelligence service knew and met the attacker who did not initially detonate his bomb.

Citing lawmakers’ speeches in parliament, Ranjit said intelligence officials had allegedly released a suspect from police custody.

The president’s office said presidential legal affairs director Harigupta Rohanadeera had sent a detailed reply to Ranjith, but did not release the letter.

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