The Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar has delivered a landmark verdict in one of Sri Lanka's most tragic chapters, finding 15 of the 24 accused individuals guilty in connection with the devastating Easter Sunday attacks of 2019.
A Nation Awaits Justice
The verdict, handed down by the specially convened Trial-at-Bar bench, marks a significant milestone in the long-running legal proceedings stemming from the coordinated bomb blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday, the 21st of April 2019. The attacks claimed the lives of over 260 people and left hundreds more injured, sending shockwaves across Sri Lanka and the international community.
Majority Found Guilty
Of the 24 individuals who stood trial before the Colombo Permanent High Court, 15 have now been convicted following the conclusion of proceedings. The remaining nine accused were not found guilty under the charges brought before the court.
The Trial-at-Bar mechanism, a special judicial arrangement reserved for cases of exceptional gravity, was employed given the enormity and complexity of the crimes involved. The process has been closely watched by survivors, victims' families, and the wider Sri Lankan public, many of whom have long demanded accountability for the atrocities committed on that fateful morning.
Wounds That Run Deep
The Easter Sunday bombings targeted three churches — St. Anthony's Shrine in Kochchikade, St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, and Zion Church in Batticaloa — as well as three five-star hotels in Colombo, during packed Easter morning services and breakfast sittings. The scale and coordination of the attacks made them the deadliest act of terrorism in Sri Lanka's post-civil war history.
Investigations established that the attacks were carried out by a local Islamist extremist group with reported links to the international terror network ISIS. The bombings reignited concerns about intelligence failures, with subsequent inquiries revealing that prior warnings had gone unheeded by authorities.
A Step Toward Closure
For the families of victims who have endured years of grief, delays, and uncertainty, today's verdict represents a crucial, if incomplete, step toward justice. Advocacy groups representing survivors and the bereaved have consistently called for full accountability, not only from the direct perpetrators but also from those in positions of authority who may have failed to act on intelligence warnings ahead of the attacks.
The sentencing phase is expected to follow, during which the court will determine the penalties to be imposed on those convicted. Sri Lanka continues to grapple with the deep social, religious, and political scars left behind by the Easter Sunday tragedy.
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who were the masterminds behind this, thats what i want to know
goverment better not let these ppl appeal and drag it another 5 years
finally some justice for those 269 souls. took 5 years but ok
only 15 out of 24 though. what about the rest