Former Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena has been summoned to make a statement to a Commission of Inquiry on August 26th regarding the Easter Sunday attacks, as reports suggest that Sri Lankan recieved as many as 97 warnings that the bombing was due to take palace.

Sirisena and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have both been blamed for not taking correct measures to prevent the attacks, which killed hundreds in bombs at churches and hotels across the island last year. There is evidence that intelligence was relayed to them before the attack, and Sri Lanka’s current defence secretary Kamal Gunaratne security agencies received as manya s 97 warnings prior to the bombings.

Last week, the panel in charge of investigations summoned Wickremesinghe to appear. Many point to the Easter attacks as one major reason that Wickremesinghe and the UNP faced such a strong defeat.

Sirisena has previously claimed that he had not received prior warning of the attack and could not be held responsible.

According to a Sri Lankan parliamentary select committee report, the country’s security forces were given intelligence that showed that an attack was due to take place on Easter Sunday but may have permitted it to ‘create chaos and instil fear’ ahead of presidential elections. That election led to the victory of Rajapaksa who claimed the previous regime ‘diluted’ intelligence services, which he has since pledged to strengthen.

Sirisena has since gone on to claim the attack was planned to disrupt his heavy-handed war on drugs.