(Crux. Nirmala Carvalho).
MUMBAI, India – Sri Lanka’s reported plans to extend the mandate of its attorney general was not made after a dialogue with the South Asian country’s Catholic Church, according to the nation’s bishops’ conference.
Local newspapers said President Ranil Wickremesinghe was extending the tenure of Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam for six months, saying he was “pivotal” in working with the bishops about the investigation of the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings. The attack on three churches and several other buildings killed at least 269 people and was contributed to the ISIS Islamist terrorist group. Local newspapers reported the president told politicians that the report of the Presidential Commission appointed after the Easter Sunday attacks was presented to the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka, Bishop of Kurunegala Harold Anthony Perera and appointed President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayaka and Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam to discuss it. The attorney general is a member of this Committee. According to the newspapers, the president said that he had decided to extend his service until the end of the discussions as he is continuously holding discussions with the members of the Bishops’ Conference.