Verdict today in Easter Sunday attacks case

• Follows over 250 trial days spanning two and a half years
• 24 accused, including Naufer Maulavi, face 23,270 charges
• Attacks on eight sites in April 2019 killed 274, including 35 children
• Comes weeks after two former security chiefs were sentenced to death in separate negligence case

Sri Lanka’s Colombo Special Three-Judge High Court will today deliver its verdict in the main trial over the 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, bringing to a close one of the longest and most closely watched criminal proceedings in the country’s history.

The judgement will be delivered by the bench comprising Navaratne Marasinghe, Sujeewa Nissanka, and Ramanathan Kannan.

Today’s verdict is separate from the criminal negligence case concluded in July, in which the same High Court, in a 2-1 decision, sentenced former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Ministry Secretary Hemasiri Fernando to death for failing to act on intelligence warnings ahead of the attacks, reversing their 2022 acquittal. That case dealt with State failures to prevent the bombings; today’s verdict concerns the alleged perpetrators and conspirators behind them.

The coordinated bombings on 21 April 2019 struck St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade, St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, Zion Church in Batticaloa, three Colombo hotels including the Shangri-La, and the Tropical Inn restaurant, killing 274 people, among them around 40 foreign tourists and 35 children. A further 577 people were injured.

The Attorney General brought 23,270 charges against 24 accused, including Naufer Maulavi, alleging they aided, abetted, and conspired with Zahran Hashim and seven other suicide bombers. The charges span terrorism, conspiracy, and direct involvement in the attacks. A 25th accused was originally charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, but the indictment was amended after he died in prison custody.

The case has been among the most extensive prosecuted in Sri Lanka’s courts. The indictment ran to more than 5,000 pages in Sinhala when served between October and November 2021, and was later translated into Tamil and English by March 2022. Following amendments in February 2023, the accused pleaded not guilty, and the trial proceeded, with defence bail applications repeatedly rejected and the accused held in remand throughout.

While each accused faced around 930 charges, the bench ruled under Section 420 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act, No. 15 of 1979 that admissions relating to the deaths and injuries would stand without requiring witnesses to be called on those specific charges.

Evidence presented at trial included 10 accepted confessions and 2,076 productions, among them concealed bomb-making materials, chemicals, firearms, swords, and explosives. Of close to 3,000 potential witnesses, testimony was heard from 547, supported by 2,077 documents, including DNA reports, Government Analyst findings, and Judicial Medical Officer reports.

The investigation was conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Terrorism Investigation Division, and multiple Police stations nationwide, prompting the Attorney General to request a Special High Court in August 2021. Then Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya appointed Judges Damith Thotawatta, Amal Ranaraja, and Navaratne Marasinghe to the bench.

The prosecution’s presentation of evidence ran from 10 October 2022 to 13 August 2026, roughly two and a half years and about 250 trial days, before concluding ahead of today’s verdict.