Sri Lanka Court Convicts 14 Men Over 2019 Easter Sunday Bombings

Sri Lanka's High Court has convicted 14 men for their direct role in the devastating Easter Sunday terror bombings of April 2019. The serial blasts targeted churches and luxury hotels across Colombo, Negombo, and Batticaloa, leaving 279 people dead and hundreds injured. A special three-judge bench delivered the verdict on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. This High Court Trial-at-Bar was first set up in 2021 to hear the complex case. The Attorney General brought a massive total of 23,270 charges against 24 accused men. These charges included conspiring to murder, helping and abetting, collecting weapons and ammunition, and attempted murder under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Out of the 24 defendants, 14 were found guilty on every single charge. A 15th defendant was found guilty of only some charges, while the remaining nine men were acquitted. The suicide attacks themselves were carried out by a network of Islamist radicals. United Nations human rights records show that more than 40 criminal cases and over 280 civil cases have been filed in total over the 2019 tragedy. Investigators are still probing possible links between the suicide bombing network and members of Sri Lankan state agencies. In February, the Criminal Investigation Department arrested retired Major General Suresh Sallay, a former intelligence chief. A court also banned former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from traveling abroad in June, and a former police chief named Pujith Jayasundara was sentenced to death in July for failing to prevent the attacks. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had promised justice for the victims before winning the September 2024 election. He marks two full years in office on Wednesday.