A court in Sri Lanka sentenced 15 men to life imprisonment for the deadly Easter bombings of 2019. The bombings, which took place on April 21, 2019, at three churches and three luxury hotels, resulted in the deaths of 279 people and injuries to 574 others, making it one of the worst attacks in Sri Lanka's history.
Conviction of the defendants and details of the ruling
The Colombo High Court found 14 of the defendants guilty on all charges, including murder, conspiracy to commit terrorism, and possession of weapons and explosives under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. The fifteenth defendant was found guilty only on some charges. The court also ordered the confiscation of the defendants' properties and assets. In this trial, nine of the defendants were acquitted, and the convicted defendants have the right to appeal to the Supreme Court.
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Background and consequences of the bombings
Investigations indicate that these attacks have been attributed to a local extremist Islamic group. The 15 defendants are among a total of 25 individuals accused of providing support to the bombers, all of whom are from Sri Lanka's Muslim minority. This trial lasted nearly five years, and Sri Lankan authorities filed 23,270 charges against these 25 suspects in 2021. One of the defendants died during pre-trial proceedings.
Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammed Nafer, an Islamic cleric and the main suspect in the Easter bombings, was among those convicted. Prosecutors stated that he had radicalized the other defendants with his teachings. He was sentenced to 240 years in hard labor.
The ruling was issued on Tuesday while a separate investigation is examining claims that some elements within the Sri Lankan government may have had connections to the perpetrators of these attacks. The former head of the country’s intelligence, Suresh Sally, has been arrested on charges of having a role in orchestrating these attacks, which he has denied. A parliamentary committee had previously found that police and intelligence officials ignored foreign intelligence warnings about the attacks.
In July, the former police chief and a senior defense ministry official were sentenced to death for failing to act on prior intelligence warnings.
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