“We heard that there was a high-level discussion in the government last night about the possibility of arresting me under the State Secrets Act and the Prevention of Terrorism Act,” says Udaya Gammanpila, leader of Pivithuru Hela Urumaya.
He made these comments while addressing a press conference at the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya party office today.
Gammanpila further commented as follows:
A Promise to Make the Report Public Is Needed
In the press conference last Monday, I warned the President that if he does not make public the reports of the committee on the Easter attack within the next seven days, I will make them public. In response, the government’s media spokesman, Minister Vijith Herath, said yesterday that they would postpone the submission of my report to the government for three days. Also, he said they need to find out how I obtained the reports.
Honorable Minister, when I point to the moon, don’t look at my finger, but rather at the moon. Instead of focusing on how I obtained the reports, Minister Vijith Herath should explain to the country why these two reports, which the government demanded be made public when Malimawe leaders were in the opposition, are now being suppressed after gaining power. We need to uncover why the government is so interested in hiding these reports. When I called for them to be made public to reveal the truth, you asked me to immediately hand over the report to the government.
But what assurance do we have that the report will be made public after I hand it over? There is no guarantee. If I hand over my report and the government does not release it, then what? Therefore, I will not hand over the reports I have until the government promises to make them public.
Minister Vijith Herath cannot intimidate me by claiming that possessing this report is a serious crime. If there is no promise to make it public, I will not hand it over. If the government does not release the reports, I will definitely make them public after seven days. We are not afraid of threats.
The Easter attack is a sensitive issue for the entire nation. The current president, in particular, received a large number of votes because of his stance on this issue. If so, why are you now hesitating to make these two reports public? Don’t the victims deserve to know the truth? Have you forgotten that the Malimave leaders demanded these reports be made public when they were in the opposition?
Who Is the rat in the Presidential Secretariat?
Minister Vijith Herath said he would investigate how I obtained the reports. But what should be investigated is not how I got the reports, but how they were leaked from the Presidential Secretariat. The reports state that the attachments should not be made public because they contain sensitive information that could endanger national security. I have not released these attachments. I have only released the reports themselves.
It’s good that we have these reports, but the enemies of the nation could also access these attachments just as I did. Therefore, the government should focus on finding out who the mole is in the Presidential Secretariat.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe had the Imam report for three months, and there were no leaks. But these two reports came out within three weeks of President Anura Dissanayake taking office. This suggests that while President Wickremesinghe’s staff was loyal to him, Mr. Dissanayake’s staff may not be.
Mr. Wasantha Samarasinghe from Malimawe asked the public to provide information about fraud and corruption to the government. But how can people share this information without fear? There’s a reasonable concern that by doing so, they could face punishment, just as I am now being threatened for holding onto this information. Therefore, I request that Minister Vijith Herath immediately withdraw his statement that holding the report for four days is a serious crime.