AI Image
Sri Lanka court convicts 15 over deadly Easter Sunday bombings
aljazeera.com • • general
Key Points:
- Sri Lanka’s High Court convicted 15 of 24 men accused in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 279 people and injured over 500, with 14 found guilty on all charges including murder and terrorism.
- The accused, all from Sri Lanka’s minority Muslim community, included Mohamed Naufar, identified as the ringleader supporting the bombing squad; nine others were acquitted.
- The bombings targeted three luxury hotels and three churches, with investigations revealing failures by police and intelligence officials to act on prior warnings.
- Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church welcomed the convictions but has suggested a larger conspiracy behind the attacks, while survivors expressed relief at the delivery of justice.
- In a related case, a former police chief and a senior defence ministry official were sentenced to death for negligence in responding to intelligence warnings before the bombings.
