Sri Lanka’s archbishop speaks out against activist’s arrest

By KRISHAN FRANCIS
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s top Roman Catholic bishop has spoken out against what he says is the wrongful arrest of an activist. Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith on Tuesday said likened to an “abduction” the arrest of activist Shehan Malaka Gamage, who has publicly questioned whether politicians used the deadly 2019 Easter Sunday bombings to force a change of government later that year. The Sri Lankan cardinal said the government was targeting those who criticized its failure to properly investigate the 2019 attacks. Local Islamist militants who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group were blamed for the six near-simultaneous suicide attacks that killed 260 people.