Former Sri Lanka MP Arrested on Alleged Terrorism Charges
Former MP and current leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress opposition party Rishad Bathiudeen, who was arrested April 24 by the Sri Lanka Police for alleged involvement in the deadly 2019 terror suicide bombings (Creative Commons).
Sri Lanka Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested former Member of Parliament and Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen, in the early hours of April 24 for his supposed connections to the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. His brother was also arrested with him. The arrests appear to be the latest in a series governmental investigations into the 2019 Colombo suicide bombings that killed 269 people and injured nearly 500 others.
The CID charged Bathiudeen, the current leader of the Muslim opposition party All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC), and his brother under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Rishad’s lawyer, Rushdhie Habeeb, denounced as a politically motivated reprisal for his status as an opposition leader to the current president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Bathiudeen condemned the arrest as “part of the repression of the Muslim community of this country.”
Ajith Rohana, the CID’s police spokesman and Deputy Inspector General (DIG), justified the arrests, alleging that the Bathiudeen brothers were responsible for “aiding and abetting the suicide bombers who committed the Easter Sunday carnage.” Rohana clarified that the two have not yet been officially charged but were arrested based on what he called, “witness statements, material evidence, circumstantial evidence, scientific evidence as well as technical evidence including financial statements.” Following the raid, the police arrested an additional 702 people for suspected involvement with extremism and related activities.
Bathiudeen’s arrest is the most recent in a string of government arrests related to the 2019 Easter bombings in Colombo, the deadliest in Sri Lanka’s history. Immediate governmental responses included arresting nearly 200 people within days of the attack, and banning three Islamist organizations - National Thowheeth Jama'ath, Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim, and Willayath As Seylan. However, neither the CID nor its sister agency, the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID), have convicted any of their detained suspects.
Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who assumed office in November 2019, recently expanded the list of banned Islamist organizations in an effort to appease Sri Lanka’s disgruntled Catholic community, which has been urging the government to complete its probe. Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic Church leader, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, recently expressed his disappointment with what he perceived to be stalling progress in the investigation, and blames the government for trying to find out which government official allowed the attacks to happen, rather than to bring the perpetrators to justice.
This is not the first time that Bathiudeen was arrested by the police. In October 2020, he was arrested by the CID for misappropriating ministry funds with regards to the transportation Central Transport Board-issued international drivers’ permits, meant to aid in voting for the 2019 presidential election.