Judgment day on Easter Sunday terrorist attacks

Five years after indictments were filed against 25 men accused in the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, the High Court Trial-at-Bar concluded on Tuesday by convicting 15 of the men who were charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for crimes including conspiring to murder, aiding and abetting, collecting arms and ammunition and attempted murder. Nine of the accused were acquitted while one man died while in police custody while the trial was ongoing.

The men were sentenced to rigorous prison terms between 200-260 years. In reaching its judgement, the court considered evidence presented against the defendants including them attending lectures propagating extremist ideology, weapons-training activities, maintaining of safe houses etc. prior to the day of the attacks. With 23,270 charges filed against the accused, the case represented  the highest number of charges ever brought in a single trial in Sri Lanka, marking it as one of the most significant proceedings in the country’s legal history.

For the families who lost their loved ones and those who were maimed in the attacks, there will be consolation that justice has been meted out to some extent. That all the terrorists were on suicide missions means those who took upon themselves the heinous task of killing over 200 innocent children, women and men means they will remain the faces of evil that have escaped earthly punishment.

The Catholic Church, which has been in the forefront in campaigning for justice for the victims because the main targets of the terrorists were churches on a religiously significant day, welcomed the judgement but was not wholly satisfied. The Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has been one of the main proponents of a political conspiracy theory behind these attacks; hence the clamouring will continue till he gets a judgement that punishes others who the Cardinal think had a role in the attacks. Toward  that end the ruling party is the best placed given it made delivering justice for the Easter Sunday terror attacks victims an election  pledge which helped it electorally. 

From the inception, these terrorist attacks were politicised. The attacks took place when the Yahapalanaya Government led by President Maithripala Sirisena was in power. It came amidst internal fighting within the Government and months after Sirisena’s sacking of then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in October 2018 and appointment of his then arch rival Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister. Wickremesinghe was reinstated as PM two months later but amidst the hostility between the two men, the country suffered in more ways than one and crucially the intelligence sector was neglected and ignored even when there were warning signs that extremist groups with links to ISIS were active particularly in the East of the country.

Months after the terrorists’ attacks, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected president, and the conspiracy theory stems from his election/the return of the Rajapaksas alleging they were a sinister unseen force behind the attacks. That the Rajapaksa benefited politically from the attacks is no secret, but the wider conspiracy theory so far has no credible evidence except for the evidence of a dubious witness that the CID is betting on to prove a possible link between the former head of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) Suresh Sallay and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Sallay is being held in detention under the PTA for more than six months over his alleged links to the terror group that carried out these attacks. No indictments have been filed so far.

Politicians will play politics and their hangers on will do the same, but everyone should spare a thought for the hundreds of innocents who were killed on that fateful Sunday morning. For those who lost their loved ones and those who live with serious injuries, they will carry their grief with them for the rest of their lives. Punishment meted out by the court will bring some consolation. It is hoped the court ruling will go some way in lessening their grief.