By The Pulseline News Desk
In a historic judgment that marks the most significant criminal accountability ruling arising from Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday terror attacks, former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando was on Friday (31 July) sentenced to death by the Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar after being found guilty of failing to act on intelligence warnings that could have prevented the carnage.
Fernando’s conviction came hours after former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara was also sentenced to death in the same case, making it the first time two of Sri Lanka’s highest-ranking security officials have been criminally convicted over their failure to prevent the April 21, 2019 terrorist attacks.
The Trial-at-Bar found that both men had received or had access to advance intelligence warning of imminent suicide bomb attacks targeting churches and luxury hotels but failed to take the necessary steps to prevent the coordinated assaults.
The Easter Sunday bombings claimed the lives of more than 260 people and injured hundreds more, leaving lasting scars on the country and triggering years of demands from victims’ families, religious leaders and civil society for those responsible to be held accountable.
Court finds failure at the highest levels
The prosecution argued that the then Defence Secretary and the IGP neglected their legal responsibilities despite clear intelligence indicating that coordinated attacks were being planned.
The court accepted the prosecution’s case, concluding that the failure of the country’s top civilian defence official and its highest-ranking police officer amounted to criminal negligence, dereliction of duty and conduct that aided and abetted the deaths caused by the attacks.
The verdict signals that accountability for the Easter Sunday tragedy extends beyond the perpetrators who carried out the bombings and reaches those entrusted with safeguarding national security.
Landmark in Sri Lanka’s legal history
The judgments against Fernando and Jayasundara follow years of legal proceedings and public controversy over the handling of the intelligence warnings received before the attacks.
The case had initially taken a different direction when both officials were acquitted by the Trial-at-Bar in February 2022 without being called upon to present their defence.
However, the Attorney General had successfully challenged that ruling before the Supreme Court, which had held that the acquittal was contrary to law and ordered the trial to continue.
Friday’s verdicts are the culmination of that legal process and represent one of the most consequential rulings in Sri Lanka’s recent judicial history.
Wider implications
The convictions are expected to have far-reaching legal and political implications, renewing scrutiny of the failures within Sri Lanka’s national security apparatus in the lead-up to the Easter Sunday attacks.
For years, victims’ families have maintained that the tragedy was preventable and have demanded accountability not only from the terrorists involved but also from public officials who failed to act despite receiving credible intelligence.
With both the former Defence Secretary and the former IGP now sentenced to death, Friday’s judgments are likely to become a defining moment in Sri Lanka’s pursuit of justice over one of the darkest chapters in its modern history.
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