The Easter attacks verdict sentences Pujith Jayasundara and Hemasiri Fernando to death over failures to act on prior intelligence.
The Easter attacks verdict has sentenced former Police Chief Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando to death over their failure to act on intelligence before the 2019 bombings.
The Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar delivered the two judgments on Friday, July 31. The court found both former security chiefs guilty through majority decisions of a three-judge bench.
The cases concerned allegations that Jayasundara and Fernando failed to prevent the Easter Sunday suicide bombings despite receiving advance warnings about possible attacks.
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Split decision in Easter attacks verdict
The High Court Trial-at-Bar comprised Justices Priyantha Liyanage, Viraj Weerasuriya and Thilakarathna Bandara.
The bench sentenced Jayasundara after a verdict that reportedly took more than four hours to deliver. The majority found the former Inspector General of Police guilty on 854 of the 855 charges presented against him.
Justice Priyantha Liyanage, who chaired the bench, delivered the majority judgment.
The judgment referred to intelligence that then-State Intelligence Service Director Nilantha Jayawardena reportedly communicated to Jayasundara on the evening of April 20, 2019.
That information concerned a possible attack targeting Catholic churches and tourist hotels.
The majority held that Jayasundara occupied the country’s highest police position and carried primary responsibility for public security. However, the court found that he failed to take sufficient action despite receiving the warning.
According to the judgment described in the source article, that failure contributed to the deaths of 268 people and injuries to another 586.
The majority concluded that abandoning his responsibility as a senior state officer tasked with preventing crime amounted to criminal dereliction of duty and aiding the deaths.
However, Justice Viraj Weerasuriya delivered a minority judgment.
He found that the prosecution had not proved its case against Jayasundara beyond reasonable doubt. Therefore, he concluded that the former police chief should be acquitted.
Jayasundara retains the right to appeal the judgment. Sri Lanka has also maintained a moratorium on executions since 1976, meaning a death sentence generally operates as life imprisonment unless that policy changes.
Hemasiri Fernando receives second death sentence
Later the same day, the Trial-at-Bar sentenced former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando to death in the separate case filed against him.
The charges concerned criminal dereliction of duty and allegations that his failure to act aided deaths and attempted murders during the Easter Sunday attacks.
Fernando’s judgment came shortly after the court announced the sentence against Jayasundara.
The same three judges heard both cases and reached their decisions by majority opinion. Reports confirmed that Fernando was also convicted and sentenced to death over his failure to respond to intelligence warnings before the attacks.
The prosecution maintained that intelligence agencies had warned of planned attacks against Catholic churches and tourist hotels.
However, the court found that Jayasundara and Fernando, as the country’s senior police and civilian defence officials, failed to take the action expected of them.
The majority held that their failure to perform their responsibilities enabled the deadly consequences of the attacks.
The judgment found that their conduct went beyond an administrative mistake. It amounted to criminal neglect by officials whom the state had entrusted with protecting national and public security.
Supreme Court ordered the cases to be reheard
The Attorney General originally filed separate indictments against Jayasundara and Fernando over their alleged failure to prevent the attacks.
On February 18, 2022, the Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar acquitted both defendants without calling on them to present a defence.
The Attorney General then appealed those decisions before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court concluded that the Trial-at-Bar had erred by acquitting the accused without calling for their defence. It therefore set aside the earlier rulings and directed the court to resume proceedings.
The retrials subsequently proceeded before the three-judge bench.
Proceedings against Jayasundara concluded on June 12, while the hearing against Fernando concluded on June 13. The court then fixed July 31 for both judgments.
Following the rehearing and consideration of the defence evidence, the majority of the bench found both former officials guilty.
The judgments represent one of the most consequential legal outcomes linked to the failure to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.
They also establish that senior public officials may face criminal liability when courts find that they ignored actionable intelligence and abandoned duties directly connected to public safety.
