Sri Lankan court sentences ex-police chief to death over 2019 Easter attacks

Colombo: A three-judge High Court panel in Sri Lanka has sentenced former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara to death after a majority of judges found him guilty of failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks despite receiving prior intelligence.

The court on Friday convicted Jayasundara of dereliction of duty and aiding and abetting murder over his failure to act on warnings that suicide bombers planned to attack Catholic churches and tourist hotels in Colombo and surrounding areas.

Judges Priyantha Liyanage and Thilakaratne Bandara delivered the majority verdict, while Judge Viraj Weerasuriya issued a dissenting judgment, reports Xinhua news agency.

Announcing the majority decision, presiding Judge Liyanage said Jayasundara had served as the country’s police chief at the time and was responsible for protecting citizens and maintaining public security.

The court said Nilantha Jayawardena, then director of the State Intelligence Service, had informed Jayasundara on the evening of April 20, 2019, that suicide attacks were expected against Catholic churches and tourist hotels the following day.

However, Jayasundara failed to take measures to prevent the attacks, the court said.

The majority judges said Jayasundara had neglected his responsibilities as the state official appointed to prevent crime and protect the public. They imposed the death sentence after considering the seriousness of the offences.

In his dissenting judgment, Weerasuriya said the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against Jayasundara beyond a reasonable doubt and acquitted him. The court took more than four hours to deliver the judgment.

Later on the same day, the court also found former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando guilty over his failure to act on intelligence warnings ahead of the 2019 terror attacks, and sentenced him to death.

The coordinated bombings, which took place on April 21, 2019, killed over 260 people and injured more than 500 others, according to the judgment.

–IANS