Catholic Church has nothing to do with extension of AG’s term

June 06 -  The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka (CBCSL) announced today that the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka had no involvement in the extension of the Attorney General's term.

CBCSL issued the following statement:

Our attention has been drawn 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.

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.

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.

We wish to express grave concern that Mr. Rajaratnam, appointed Attorney General on May 26, 2021, has failed over the past 36 months to implement the recommendations in the Easter Sunday Attacks Presidential Commission of Inquiry Final Report.

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.

We categorically state that the CBCSL has absolutely nothing to do with the extension of the Attorney General's term. The President's reported intention to seek an extension by exploiting the Easter Sunday attacks and involving the CBCSL is wholly condemned. We are also deeply concerned with the statement attributed to the President, reported in the article, which suggests that questions regarding the extension of the Attorney General's term should be directed to the CBCSL.

Therefore, this insinuation that the CBCSL is responsible for the extension of the Attorney General's term is false, misleading, and malicious.