Sri Lanka's Ex-Police Chief Sentenced To Death Over 2019 Easter Sunday Attack
A Sri Lankan court has sentenced two former high-ranking security officials to death for their failure to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. The officials were found guilty of negligence for ignoring intelligence warnings regarding the attacks that killed 279 people.
Why it matters
This ruling highlights the legal accountability of state officials in national security failures and marks a significant judicial development in a country that maintains an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment.
A Sri Lanka court sentenced two ex-security officials to death on Friday for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people including 45 foreigners.In a majority decision, a three-judge bench ruled that former police chief Pujith Jayasundara and former defence ministry secretary Hemasiri Fernando failed in their duties to stop the deadly attacks, blamed on a homegrown Islamist extremist group.Jayasundara, 66, and Fernando, 76, can appeal against the sentence in the Supreme Court, but have been remanded to judicial custody until granted bail.Sri Lanka has not carried out the death sentence since 1976, maintaining an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment.There are at least 800 people on death row, according to government figures shared with parliament in February, with sentences usually commuted to life imprisonment.Friday's judgement at the special fast-track court came after the state appealed against a 2022 decision that acquitted the duo.The court was told…
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