A special High Court in Sri Lanka has sentenced former Police Chief Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando to death after finding them guilty of criminal negligence over the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
The three-judge panel delivered the verdict in a 2-1 decision, ruling that the two former officials failed to act on repeated intelligence warnings that could have prevented the attacks. The case was reopened after prosecutors successfully appealed a 2022 ruling that had acquitted both men.
The coordinated Easter Sunday attacks targeted three churches and three luxury hotels across Sri Lanka, killing 279 people, including 45 foreign nationals, and injuring more than 500 others. Investigations found that Indian intelligence had warned Sri Lankan authorities of a possible suicide attack weeks before the bombings, but no effective preventive measures were taken.
Lawyers for Jayasundara and Fernando have announced plans to appeal the convictions, arguing that neither official had any connection to the attackers or any motive to facilitate the bombings.
Although the court imposed the death penalty, Sri Lanka has maintained a moratorium on executions since 1976. As a result, death sentences are typically commuted to life imprisonment. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has expressed support for continuing the country's long-standing suspension of executions.
The Easter Sunday bombings remain one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka's history, with investigations into those linked to the attacks still ongoing.
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