Sri Lankan court sentences 15 men to life in prison over 2019 Easter bombings

A Sri Lankan court yesterday (22 September) sentenced 15 men to between 200 and 260 years in prison for helping plan and facilitate the 2019 Easter bombings that killed 267 people at churches and hotels.

Nine other defendants were acquitted after a trial lasting more than five years.

The 21 April, 2019, attacks, inspired by the Islamic State group, targeted three churches and three hotels during Easter services and celebrations. Forty-two foreigners were among those killed and 574 people were injured.

The three-judge High Court panel also ordered the convicts' property confiscated under the country's anti-terror law. The defendants can appeal to the Supreme Court.

Prosecutors said the men were involved in a coordinated plot targeting Christian worshippers and tourists. They presented a video recorded a day before the bombings showing masked attackers pledging allegiance to then-Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Authorities filed 23,270 charges in 2021 against 25 suspects accused of planning or inspiring the attacks. One died before the trial ended.

The bombings also triggered allegations of a wider conspiracy and criticism of security agencies for failing to act on repeated warnings. In July, a former police chief and a senior former Defense Ministry official were sentenced to death for failing to respond to foreign intelligence warnings. Sri Lanka has not carried out an execution since 1976.

The Catholic Church welcomed Tuesday's verdict. Rev. Jude Chrishantha Fernando, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Colombo, said the sentence would help deter similar attacks.

"We are happy at least with this judgement, we know that in the future this type of crime will not take place in our country," he said.