Opposition and SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa told Parliament yesterday that if he was elected President, he would launch a fresh Presidential Commission probe into the Easter Sunday terror attacks.
Premadasa said that he along with the rest of the people had been demanding justice over the Easter Sunday terror attacks for the past five years. “I have raised many questions on this floor, but the government has failed to respond to them.”
Premadasa outlined the measures that would be taken to serve justice to the victims and to find out the masterminds behind the carnage.
“If am elected President, within two months, a seven-member Commission, consisting of local and international experts, will be set up under the Commissions of Inquiry Act No. 17 of 1948. The Commission will be tasked with studying the entire security programme in the past and present, without limitations. It will also be vested with powers to obtain statements from any person in any institution without any restriction,” the Opposition Leader said.
“Within six weeks of the establishment of the Commission, I will set up a permanent investigation office, consisting of foreign intelligence and security services, including the Scotland Yard, and FBI, as well as local intelligence and security agencies to work together. It will be made mandatory for the Attorney General to file indictments or take necessary action subject to the laws of the land subject to the recommendations and orders of the Commission,” Premadasa said.
Premadasa added that he would also set up a permanent High Court to hear cases against the persons charged with offences related to the Easter attacks.
He said that new laws would be brought in to establish a Public Prosecutor’s Office independent of the Attorney General. For this purpose, the Commissions of Inquiry Act No. 17 of 1948 and the Judicature Act No. 2 of 1978 would have to be amended.
