Two former senior officials have been sentenced to death in connection with the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings, after a High Court panel found them criminally negligent for failing to act on advance intelligence before the attacks that killed hundreds.
Former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando were convicted in a 2-1 ruling by a three-judge High Court bench on Friday, according to court officials. The special fast-track court issued the sentences after the state successfully appealed a 2022 acquittal.
The coordinated Easter Sunday bombings in 2019 targeted three hotels popular with tourists and three churches, two Catholic and one Protestant. A parliamentary committee previously concluded that police and intelligence services did not respond to repeated warnings ahead of the blasts.
Attorney Chaminda Athukorale, representing both men, said they will file appeals within two weeks. He noted that the dissenting judge argued the defendants had neither motive to kill nor links to those who carried out the attacks.
Intelligence warnings before the Sri Lanka Easter bombings
During the proceedings, the court heard that an Indian intelligence agency warned Sri Lankan authorities on April 4, 2019 of a potential suicide attack. Officials did not take adequate action, the court was told.
In an earlier civil case, Jayasundara and Fernando were ordered to pay 125 million rupees, about 372,464 dollars, in compensation to survivors.
Ongoing cases and death penalty context
Authorities have said two Sri Lanka-based groups inspired by ISIL were responsible for the suicide bombings. None of those believed to have taken part directly are alive. Separate trials are under way for others accused of links to the perpetrators.
The attacks killed 279 people, including 45 foreign nationals, and wounded more than 500. Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church has asserted that those identified to date are not the masterminds and has alleged a wider conspiracy.
Sri Lanka retains the death penalty, but executions have not been carried out since 1976 under a long-standing moratorium. Current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake supports keeping the moratorium.
Government figures presented to parliament in February indicate at least 800 people are on death row, with sentences typically commuted to life imprisonment. In the wider region, debates over capital punishment continue, including in cases such as recent executions in Iran over protest violence.