A Sri Lankan court on Friday sentenced former police chief Pujith Jayasundara and ex-defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando to death for failing to act on intelligence warnings before the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, overturning their earlier acquittal. The three-judge High Court panel found Jayasundara guilty of dereliction of duty and aiding and abetting murder after state intelligence director Nilantha Jayawardena had alerted him on the evening of April 20, 2019, that suicide attacks on churches and hotels were imminent. Fernando was convicted later the same day on similar charges.
The coordinated bombings on April 21, 2019, targeted three churches, three luxury hotels and two other locations, killing 279 people including 45 foreigners and three Danish children. Islamic State claimed responsibility, though local Islamist militants are believed to have carried out the attacks.
The pair were previously acquitted by a High Court panel in 2022, but the Supreme Court ordered a retrial that began in March. Both may appeal. Sri Lanka has maintained an unofficial moratorium on executions since 1976.