“President lied for re-appointing the Attorney General,” says Catholic Bishops’ Conference
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka (CBCSL) announced that the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka had no involvement in the extension of the Attorney General’s term. “We the members of the CBCSL completely disassociate ourselves from these mischievous attempts to discredit the CBCSL in the guise of the Attorney General’s extension of his term of office,” said in the statement issued by Bshop’s Conference of Sri Lanka (CBCSL) yesterday 06th of June.
“Attorney General even has failed over the past 36 months to implement the recommendations in the Easter Sunday Attacks Presidential Commission of Inquiry Final Report,” CBCSL stressed in their statement.
“We state categorically that the CBCSL has absolutely nothing to do with the extension of the period of Office of the Honorable Attorney General. His Excellency the President’s intention as reported to seek an extension by making use of the Easter Sunday attacks and the CBCSL is wholeheartedly condemned” it was said in the statement respectively signed by Bishop Harold Anthony Perera and Auxiliary Bishop of Colombo Bishop J.D. Anthony, President and the Secretary-General of CBCSL.
The CBCSL said that they are also deeply concerned with the statement attributed to the President, reported in the final paragraph of the said article which states that if anyone wishes to question the extension of the period of office of the Hon. Attorney General, they should direct their questions to the CBCSL.
Therefore, this insinuation that the CBCSL is responsible for the extension of the office of the Hon. Attorney General is false, misleading and malicious.
According to the CBCSL statement, they have given more attention to news articles published in several newspapers and other social and electronic media during the first week of June 2024 regarding a purported statement by the President concerning an extension granted to the term of the current Attorney General.
They say, “these articles refer to an unfounded incident alleging that the Chairman of the CBCSL met with the President, resulting in the appointment of a three-member committee consisting of Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, Sagala Rathnayake, and Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam to discuss the Presidential Commission of Inquiry Report into the Easter Sunday attacks”.
“The articles further claim that the Attorney General is performing a fundamental role in this committee to coordinate with the CBCSL on future steps regarding the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks. They also state that Mr. Rajaratnam has been in constant dialogue with the CBCSL, which is completely false” says the CBCSL.
“We, the members of the CBCSL, vehemently deny these misleading claims. There has never been any such dialogue between the Chairman of the CBCSL and the Attorney General at any time”.
Additionally, the articles imply that the Attorney General is being granted an extension of his term as he is due to retire shortly. We are astounded by the suggestion that the President is exploiting the Easter Sunday attacks and the CBCSL to justify this extension”.
“During the tenure of Mr. Rajaratnam, the Catholic Church has consistently written to and called upon the Attorney General to bring justice to the victims of the heinous Easter Sunday attacks”.
But they say, “he has failed over the past 36 months to implement the recommendations in the Easter Sunday Attacks Presidential Commission of Inquiry Final Report. Therefore, “We wish to express grave concern that Mr. Rajaratnam, appointed Attorney General on May 26, 2021, CBCSL stressed.
“Therefore, this insinuation that the CBCSL is responsible for the extension of the Attorney General’s term is false, misleading, and malicious,” said the CBCSL.
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