A Sri Lankan court has sentenced former police chief Pujith Jayasundara to death for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. The Friday judgement was issued by a special fast-track court following a state appeal against a 2022 decision.
The 2022 decision had acquitted Jayasundara and the defence secretary at the time of the attacks, Hemasiri Fernando. However, the state appealed that ruling, resulting in the current sentence. Hemasiri Fernando was also sentenced to death for failing to act despite receiving warnings about a possible attack.
The 2019 bombings
The 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which were blamed on a home-grown Islamist extremist group, resulted in the deaths of 279 people, including 45 foreigners.
Death toll from the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, including 45 foreigners.
A three-judge bench ruled in a majority decision that the former inspector general failed in his duties to stop the attacks. Jayasundara, who is 66 years old, can appeal his sentence in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
Capital punishment in Sri Lanka
While the sentences were handed down, Sri Lanka has maintained an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment and has not carried out a death sentence since 1976. Death sentences in the country are usually commuted to life imprisonment.