Sri Lanka court convicts 15 over deadly Easter Sunday bombings
The coordinated bombings in April 2019 were carried out at three tourist hotels and three churches, killing 279 people.
Sri Lanka’s High Court has convicted 15 of the 24 men accused of being involved in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners, and injured more than 500.
After a five-year trial, the three-judge bench on Tuesday found that 14 of the accused were guilty on all charges, which included murder, conspiracy to commit “terrorism” and possessing firearms and explosives under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
All of the accused are from Sri Lanka’s minority Muslim community. Twenty-five men were originally charged, but one defendant died in custody.
Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic Church welcomed the convictions. “Finally, we have justice,” Catholic priest Jude Fernando told the AFP news agency. “It has taken a long time to get to this point.”