Sri Lanka court jails 15 men for 220 years each over 2019 Easter bombings
A three-judge bench convicted 15 men of direct involvement in the April 2019 suicide attacks on churches and hotels, handing each a 220-year sentence and ordering their assets confiscated.
Sri Lanka’s High Court handed 220-year jail terms to 15 men convicted of direct involvement in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people. The three-judge bench in Colombo delivered the verdict on Tuesday.
Fourteen of the accused were found guilty on all charges — murder, conspiracy to commit terrorism, and possessing firearms and explosives under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. A fifteenth man was found guilty of only some charges, but all were each handed 220-year sentences. Nine others were acquitted, and the court ordered the confiscation of the convicts’ property and assets.
The men were accused of aiding and abetting the suicide bombers who struck three churches and three luxury hotels on April 21, 2019 — the worst terror attack against civilians in the country’s history. Twenty-five men were originally charged, but one died in custody.
It is the first criminal prosecution directly linked to the coordinated attacks. In July, a former police chief and a former senior defence ministry official were sentenced to death for failing to act on prior intelligence warnings.
Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic Church welcomed the convictions after a five-year trial. “Finally, we have justice,” priest Jude Fernando told AFP. “It has taken a long time to get to this point.”
More on this topic: all World stories