COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – A Sri Lankan High Court has sentenced 15 men to prison terms ranging from 200 to 260 years for their roles in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, bringing a major terrorism trial to a close more than seven years after the attacks.
The three-judge Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar convicted the 15 defendants on Tuesday after proceedings involving 23,270 charges. Nine other defendants were acquitted and released.
The sentences are so lengthy that they effectively amount to life imprisonment. Sri Lanka has not carried out an execution since 1976, although the court in this case imposed prison terms rather than death sentences.
Court imposes lengthy sentences
The sentences varied according to the defendants’ involvement.
Five men received 200-year terms, five were sentenced to 220 years, four received 240 years and one was sentenced to 260 years of rigorous imprisonment. The court also ordered the confiscation of the convicted men’s movable and immovable property.
The defendants were prosecuted under charges including conspiracy, aiding and abetting the attacks, murder, and offenses involving firearms and explosives under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act.
The case was heard by a three-judge bench comprising Navaratne Marasinghe, Ramanathan Kannan and Sujeewa Nissanka.
The 2019 Easter attacks
The bombings took place on April 21, 2019, during Easter Sunday services and celebrations.
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Suicide bombers attacked three churches and three hotels in coordinated explosions. The attacks killed more than 260 people and wounded hundreds, including foreign nationals.
The attacks were attributed to Sri Lanka-based Islamist militant groups inspired by Islamic State. None of the people believed to have directly carried out the suicide bombings survived.
The bombings were among the deadliest attacks in Sri Lanka since the country’s civil war ended in 2009 and had a lasting impact on the country’s security policy and relations among its religious communities.
Nine defendants acquitted
The court’s verdict did not convict everyone who stood trial.
Nine of the 24 defendants before the court were acquitted and ordered released after the prosecution failed to establish the charges against them.
One defendant had died while in custody before the trial concluded, while the original case involved 25 suspects.
Among those convicted was Mohamed Naufar, also known as Naufer Moulavi. Prosecutors identified him as a key figure who helped support the group that carried out the attacks.
The court’s judgment therefore distinguishes between those it found criminally responsible in the case and those against whom the charges were not proven.
Questions remain over the wider attack
The convictions settle an important part of the criminal case, but they do not resolve every question surrounding the Easter bombings.
Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church has repeatedly argued that the people prosecuted as perpetrators were not necessarily the full group behind the attacks and has called for further investigation into possible masterminds and other forms of involvement. Those claims have not been established by the court as part of this verdict.
A parliamentary investigation previously found that senior police and intelligence officials had received warnings about a possible attack but failed to act adequately on them.
That failure has produced a separate legal track.
In July, a former police chief and a former senior defense ministry official were sentenced to death for failing to respond promptly to intelligence warnings. Sri Lanka has not carried out an execution since 1976.
The two cases concern different alleged conduct: the latest trial addressed involvement in planning, supporting or facilitating the attacks, while the earlier case concerned alleged failures by officials to act on warnings.
Separate allegations involving intelligence officials
The wider investigation has also included allegations concerning possible links between the attackers and elements of Sri Lanka’s intelligence establishment.
Former intelligence chief Suresh Salley was arrested in February in connection with the bombings and remains in custody. The government has alleged that he had prior knowledge of the attacks and conspired in them. Sri Lanka’s Defense Ministry has denied state involvement.
Those allegations remain separate from the convictions announced this week.
The distinction is important because the court’s verdict establishes criminal responsibility for the defendants before it; it does not, by itself, resolve every allegation concerning possible wider involvement in the attacks.
A long-running case reaches judgment
The trial lasted nearly five years and became one of Sri Lanka’s most closely watched terrorism proceedings.
The large number of charges reflected the scale of the case. Prosecutors brought 23,270 charges against the defendants, covering alleged participation in the conspiracy and assistance provided to the attackers.
The convictions represent the principal criminal judgment against people accused of helping organize and support the Easter attacks.
For victims and survivors, however, the verdict is only one part of a longer effort to establish accountability.
The attacks killed hundreds of people at places of worship and tourist hotels, including 42 foreign nationals according to reporting on the case.
The court has now imposed sentences that will keep all 15 convicted men in prison for the remainder of their lives under the terms handed down.
The broader questions over whether officials failed to prevent the attacks, whether others were involved and how the warning failures occurred remain part of Sri Lanka’s continuing effort to account for what happened on Easter Sunday in 2019.
Reporting Credit: Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar — verdict and sentencing of the 15 defendants; Sri Lanka Attorney General’s Department — prosecution involving 23,270 charges; Sri Lankan government and Defense Ministry — official positions concerning the wider investigation and allegations of state involvement; Sri Lankan parliamentary investigations — findings concerning intelligence warnings preceding the attacks.
