By YOHAN PERERA Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Colombo, Dec 19 (Daily Mirror) –  Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith today said he did inform former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa not to appoint Ali Sabry as the Minister of Justice in his cabinet.

I did inform former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa not to appoint Ali Sabry as the Minister of Justice in his cabinet. I did this after a Buddhist monk cautioned me about the move by the former President to appoint Sabry as the Justice Minister,” Cardinal Ranjith told a press conference.

We were disturbed about the appointment initially as we thought that the Easter Sunday attacks were done by a certain religious group which could influence Sabry. However we changed our stance when it was found out that there is another conspiracy behind the attack,” the Cardinal added.

My trust on Gotabaya Rajapaksa was lost when he appointed a subcommittee to relook at the report of the presidential commission which probed Easter Sunday attacks,” he also said.

Cardinal said the church is not prepared to meet incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe as the latter had told Indian journalists. We want the government to carry out a probe on the matters revealed by the Channel 4 and the presidential commission, to involve the officers who carried out the initial probe on Easter Sunday attacks on the fresh probes. We also want any future probe done under international monitors,” he also said.

Referring to celebration of Christmas, the Cardinal urged all Catholics to give a meal to the needy. I am going to request all Catholic Churches in the Archdiocese to give a meal to the poor. I am also going to give a meal to the poor and spend Christmas with them,” he said in this regard.