Sri Lanka Officials Sentenced to Death Over Easter Attacks
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- Sri Lanka's High Court sentenced former Police Chief Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando to death in a 2-1 ruling on Friday, finding them guilty of criminal negligence for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter bombings that killed 279 people including 45 foreigners.
- The defense said they will appeal within two weeks, with lawyer Chaminda Athukorale citing the dissenting judge's finding that the two "had no motive to kill and no links with the actual perpetrators."
- The court heard that an Indian intelligence agency warned Sri Lanka on April 4, 2019 of a possible suicide attack, which authorities failed to act on before coordinated bombings hit three churches and three tourist hotels.
- The state overturned a 2022 acquittal at the special fast-track court; a separate civil action had earlier ordered the two officials to pay 125 million rupees ($372,464) in damages to survivors.
- Sri Lanka has maintained a moratorium on executions since 1976, meaning the death sentences effectively become life in prison — a position supported by current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, with at least 800 others on death row.
- Sri Lanka's Catholic Church has publicly claimed the identified perpetrators are not the masterminds and that "a bigger conspiracy" behind the bombings remains unsolved.
Why it matters: The verdict gives survivors of the 2019 attacks accountability after a 2022 acquittal was overturned, but the death sentences effectively amount to life in prison due to Sri Lanka's moratorium on executions since 1976, backed by current President Dissanayake. The Catholic Church's claim that the identified perpetrators are not the masterminds leaves the deeper accountability question — who really planned the attacks — still open.
