Sri Lankan court sentences two former security chiefs to death over Easter bombings
A special court in Sri Lanka has sentenced two former senior security officials to death after finding them guilty of failing to prevent the devastating Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people in 2019. The ruling marks one of the country’s most significant legal decisions related to the attacks, which also claimed the lives of 45 foreign nationals and injured more than 500 others.
The three judge bench ruled by majority that former police chief Pujith Jayasundara and former defence ministry secretary Hemasiri Fernando neglected their responsibilities despite receiving advance warnings about the possibility of extremist attacks. The court concluded that their failure to act contributed directly to one of the deadliest terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka’s history.
Jayasundara, 66, and Fernando, 76, were taken into judicial custody following the verdict. Although both have been sentenced to death, they have the right to challenge the ruling before Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court. They will remain in custody until they are granted bail during the appeals process.
Despite the sentence, executions are unlikely to take place. Sri Lanka has not carried out a death sentence since 1976 and has maintained an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment for decades. Government figures presented to parliament earlier this year showed that around 800 prisoners are currently on death row, with most death sentences later reduced to life imprisonment.
Friday’s ruling overturned an earlier decision that had cleared both men of criminal responsibility. In 2022, a lower court acquitted the former officials, but prosecutors appealed the verdict, leading to a fresh review of the case before the special fast track court.
During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence showing that Indian intelligence agencies had warned Sri Lankan authorities on April 4, 2019 about the possibility of suicide attacks by extremist groups. The warning came more than two weeks before the coordinated bombings on April 21, yet the court found that adequate preventive measures were never taken.
The Easter Sunday attacks targeted three churches during religious services and three luxury hotels across the country. The coordinated explosions shocked Sri Lanka and drew international condemnation, becoming one of the country’s worst terrorist attacks since the end of its civil war.
Both Jayasundara and Fernando were arrested later in 2019 and spent four months in custody before being released on bail. In a separate civil case, they were ordered to pay 125 million Sri Lankan rupees in compensation to victims and survivors for failing to fulfil their duties.
Prosecutors argued that the negligence of the two senior officials amounted to an extremely serious offence because they ignored credible intelligence that could have prevented the attacks. They initially sought murder convictions, claiming their failure to respond to the warnings resulted in hundreds of avoidable deaths. The court ultimately convicted both men of negligence leading to the deaths of 279 people.
During earlier parliamentary investigations, Jayasundara and Fernando testified that then President Maithripala Sirisena had not followed established national security procedures before the attacks. They claimed weaknesses in communication and decision making at the highest levels of government contributed to the failure to respond effectively to the intelligence warnings.
The verdict is expected to renew debate over accountability for the Easter Sunday bombings and the responsibilities of senior officials in protecting national security. Families of the victims have repeatedly demanded justice and greater transparency over the events leading up to the attacks, while the case remains one of the most closely watched legal proceedings in Sri Lanka’s recent history.
