Sri Lanka Easter Bombing Case: Former Police Chief Sentenced to Death

Colombo, August 1: A special bench of Sri Lanka’s High Court has sentenced former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara to death. This ruling comes in connection with the 2019 suicide bombings that claimed the lives of 260 individuals. The court found him guilty of failing to adequately perform his duties.

The majority of judges held Jayasundara responsible for not preventing the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, despite having prior intelligence warnings.

On Friday, the court convicted Jayasundara of gross negligence in his duties, as well as aiding and abetting murder. He was accused of not taking effective action despite receiving intelligence that suicide bombers were planning to target Catholic churches and tourist hotels in and around Colombo.

According to the Xinhua news agency, judges Priyantha Liyanage and Tilakaratne Bandara delivered the majority verdict, while Judge Viraj Veerasuriya expressed dissent with a separate opinion.

Presiding over the majority decision, Judge Liyanage stated that at the time of the attacks, Jayasundara was the head of the police and held the responsibility for ensuring the safety of citizens and maintaining public order.

The court noted that the then Director of the State Intelligence Service, Nilantha Jayawardena, had informed Jayasundara on the evening of April 20, 2019, about the potential for suicide attacks on Catholic churches and tourist hotels the following day.

Despite this, Jayasundara failed to take necessary steps to prevent the attacks.

The majority ruling emphasized that, as a state officer appointed to prevent crimes and ensure public safety, Jayasundara had severely neglected his responsibilities. Given the gravity of the offenses, the court imposed the death penalty.

However, in his dissenting opinion, Judge Veerasuriya stated that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against Jayasundara beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, he acquitted him of all charges. The court took over four hours to deliver the complete verdict.

On the same day, the court also found former Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando guilty for failing to act on the intelligence warnings received before the 2019 terrorist attacks and sentenced him to death as well.

The serial suicide bombings on April 21, 2019, resulted in the deaths of over 260 people, with more than 500 others injured.