A high court in Sri Lanka delivered guilty verdicts against 15 defendants on charges related to organizing the 2019 Easter bombings. The court sentenced each to prison terms ranging from 200 to 260 years. Nine other defendants were acquitted during the same trial, which concluded after more than five years of proceedings.
The attacks occurred on April 21, 2019, and targeted three churches and three hotels across the island nation. A total of 267 people died, including 42 foreign nationals, while 574 others sustained injuries. Authorities attributed the bombings to motivation from the Islamic State group. The prosecutions charged 25 individuals, all members of Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority, with involvement in planning or inspiring the attacks. Prosecutors presented evidence including a video recorded the day before the bombings in which attackers pledged allegiance to then-Islamic State leader Abu Bakhr al-Baghdadi. One defendant reportedly traveled to Syria and fought for the IS group.
During the sentencing hearing, one defendant identified as an Islamic cleric declined to request leniency, stating that according to Islamic belief, religious leaders should not appeal to secular authorities on such matters. The court proceeded with sentences ranging from 200 to 260 years of imprisonment, with some defendants ordered to serve sentences with hard labor. The court also ordered confiscation of the defendants’ property under Sri Lanka’s anti-terrorism legislation. Defendants retain the right to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The bombings stirred debate about broader involvement. Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church, which lost members in the attacks, expressed satisfaction with the verdict but suggested without supporting evidence that additional conspirators remained unidentified. A parliamentary investigation previously found that police and intelligence officials had failed to act on repeated warnings before the attacks. In separate proceedings, a former intelligence chief was arrested on accusations of prior knowledge, and a former police chief and defense ministry official received death sentences for failing to act on foreign intelligence warnings.
The trial concluded under heightened security with hundreds of police deployed around the courthouse. Nine of the 25 charged individuals were freed after the court determined the evidence against them was insufficient to establish guilt. The remaining convicts displayed varied courtroom demeanor, with some appearing composed while others acted defiant. Several defendants who represented themselves declined to request leniency, citing religious conviction.
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