Suspect Wanted by Police Over Easter Attacks Flees to UK Seeking Political Asylum

British media report that an Islamic extremist suspect, questioned by the Sri Lanka Police in connection with the Easter Sunday attacks of 21 April 2019, is now seeking asylum in the United Kingdom.

It is reported that the suspect was taken into custody by the Sri Lanka Police in 2022 but was subsequently released on bail.

Foreign media further stated that later the same year, he left Sri Lanka for the United Kingdom, where he has since applied for asylum.

However, the individual concerned denies the allegations against him, claiming that, as Sri Lanka Police had come looking for him at his residence, he fears he would be subjected to violence and persecution if he were to return to Sri Lanka.

Foreign media have identified the suspect anonymously and it is said that his wife has also submitted an asylum application.

Although the Home Office initially rejected their applications, the suspect has appealed and the case is currently under reconsideration.

According to foreign media, the suspect told the court in the UK that: “I was arrested and questioned on 5 January 2022 and later released after paying a bribe. I then left Sri Lanka for the United Kingdom on 2 September 2022, following which an arrest warrant was issued for me on 15 September 2022.”

The suicide bombings carried out on Easter Sunday in 2019 claimed the lives of 269 people, including six British nationals.

Among those killed in the explosion at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo were British national Anita Nicholson, aged 42 and her children, 14-year-old Alexander and 11-year-old Annabel.