A Sri Lankan High Court has convicted 15 men for their roles in plotting the devastating 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, a coordinated series of attacks that claimed 270 lives and left more than 500 others injured.
Among those found guilty is Naufer Moulavi, whom prosecutors identified as the mastermind behind the suicide bombings that targeted three churches and three luxury hotels across the island nation. Nine other defendants were acquitted in the landmark ruling. The attacks remain the deadliest incident in Sri Lanka since the conclusion of its decades-long civil war in 2009, with 45 foreign nationals among the victims.
The verdict arrives against a backdrop of profound national reckoning over the security failures that allowed the plot to unfold. In the immediate aftermath of the bombings, Sri Lankan authorities acknowledged a “major intelligence lapse,” with parliamentary hearings later revealing that a critical tip-off from Indian intelligence regarding the impending attacks was not properly disseminated to relevant security agencies.
The legal fallout has been extensive and unprecedented. In 2023, the Supreme Court ordered former President Maithripala Sirisena to pay millions in compensation to the victims’ families, holding him directly responsible for the national security failures that precipitated the tragedy. Furthermore, just last month, two former senior officials were handed death sentences for criminal negligence related to the bombings, though such sentences are typically commuted to life imprisonment due to Sri Lanka’s decades-old moratorium on executions.
SEE ALSO: Sri Lanka prison riots leave 26 dead and more than 100 injured
Even as these convictions bring a measure of judicial closure, the shadow of deeper conspiracies remains. A separate investigation is currently underway into allegations against former intelligence chief Suresh Sallay, who is accused of orchestrating the bombings in collusion with Islamist extremists.
These allegations echo explosive claims made in a 2023 documentary by British broadcaster Channel 4, which featured whistleblower testimony suggesting the attacks were deliberately allowed to occur to bolster the political popularity of the Rajapaksa family, which has long dominated Sri Lankan politics.
As the nation processes this latest judicial milestone, the convictions represent a crucial step toward accountability. Yet, for the families of the 270 victims, true justice remains inextricably linked to uncovering the full, unvarnished truth about how such a catastrophic breach of national security was permitted to happen.
Promise Idoko is Junior Reporter working with moderncrux He covers global politics and international affairs. Based in Nigeria,
