Sri Lankan Court Convicts 15 for Roles in 2019 Easter Bombings

A Sri Lankan court on Tuesday convicted 15 men for their roles in organizing the 2019 Easter bombings that targeted churches and hotels, killing 267 people. The High Court sentenced each defendant to at least 200 years in prison following a trial that spanned over five years.

In the same trial, nine other men were acquitted of similar charges and released.

The April 21 attacks, which were inspired by the Islamic State group, rank among the deadliest incidents in Sri Lanka’s history. The coordinated strikes targeted three churches and three hotels across the island nation during Easter Sunday services and celebrations.

The violence claimed the lives of 42 foreign nationals and injured 574 others, devastating communities throughout the country.

The verdict was delivered under heavy security, with hundreds of police officers deployed around the courthouse. The three-judge panel also ordered the confiscation of the defendants’ properties under the nation’s stringent anti-terrorism legislation.

While none of the individuals believed to have directly carried out the attacks are alive, authorities filed 23,270 charges in 2021 against 25 suspects accused of planning or instigating the violence. These charges encompassed murder, conspiracy to commit terrorism, and firearms and explosives offenses under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. All 25 suspects were members of Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority.

One of the charged individuals died before the trial concluded.

Prosecutors argued that the defendants were part of a meticulously planned attack intended to kill Christian worshippers and tourists. They noted that the court reviewed a video recorded the day before the bombings, in which masked attackers pledged allegiance to then-Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and vowed to fight to establish Sri Lanka as an Islamic nation.

Prosecutors also revealed that one of the defendants had traveled to Syria to fight for the Islamic State group.

Inside the courtroom, the accused appeared calm, chatting and laughing during breaks. They requested and were granted a prayer break during the lengthy reading of the verdict.

Seven defendants who lacked legal representation spoke on their own behalf during the sentencing hearing.

Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Naufer, an Islamic cleric whom prosecutors said inspired the attacks with radical preaching, refused to request leniency.

“According to Islam, no religious leader should plead with secular authorities over any matter. Therefore, I do not wish to state anything,” Naufer stated.

He was ultimately sentenced to 220 years in prison with hard labor.

“What I did or didn’t do only God and I know,” said Mohamed Ibrahim Saadiq Abdulla. “In the end, all people will be resurrected, and God will judge everyone,” he added.

He received a sentence of 240 years in prison with hard labor.

Nine defendants were freed after the court determined that the charges against them were unproven.

Those released tearfully embraced the remaining convicts as they were separated.

Among the remaining defendants, five received 200-year sentences, four were given 220 years, three were sentenced to 240 years each, and one received 260 years, based on their level of involvement in conspiring and aiding the attacks.

The convicts retain the right to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The bombings deeply shook the island nation and revived memories of the 26-year conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, widely known as the Tamil Tigers. This separatist group fought to establish an independent state for Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamil minority and was notorious for bombing public places.

Following the bombings, allegations surfaced suggesting the attackers had connections to Sri Lanka’s state intelligence services.

The country’s Defense Ministry denied any involvement, but a parliamentary committee concluded that police and intelligence officials failed to act on repeated intelligence warnings regarding the attacks.

In February, police arrested Suresh Salley, a former intelligence chief and retired army major general, on accusations that he possessed prior knowledge of the attacks and conspired to carry them out.

In July, a former police chief and a former senior defense ministry official were sentenced to death for failing to promptly act on foreign intelligence warnings of potential attacks. Since Sri Lanka has not carried out executions since 1976, death sentences typically result in life imprisonment.

Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church has asserted, without providing evidence, that those identified as perpetrators are not the masterminds behind the bombings and that a larger conspiracy existed.

Two of the three targeted churches belonged to the Catholic Church, and a majority of the victims were Catholic believers. The third targeted church was Protestant.

Rev. Jude Chrishantha Fernando, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Colombo, told reporters outside the court that the church was satisfied with the sentence and that it would serve as a deterrent against future attacks.

“We are happy — at least with this judgment, we know that in the future this type of crime will not take place in our country,” Fernando said.

However, he added that “these suicide bombers are not isolated people. They were used for another purpose: to take power.”

Another priest, Rev. Dilan Perera, stated that the verdict represented a blow against fundamentalism.

“There cannot be a ‘we’; we are living in a multi-cultural, multi-national, and multi-religious country. There cannot be one religion coming like this and leading up to killing and destroying other people,” he said.

Jayampathy Palipane of the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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