Sri Lankan Army soldiers secure the area around St. Anthony Shrine after a blast in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on April 21, 2019.
| Photo Credit: AP
Sri Lanka’s High Court on Tuesday (September 22, 2026) convicted 14 of the 24 men accused of direct involvement in the Easter Sunday terror bombings that shook the island nation in April 2019, killing 279 people and injuring hundreds.
The special High Court Trial-at-Bar was appointed in 2021, to hear this case pertaining to the serial blasts targeting churches and luxury hotels in Colombo, nearby Negombo, and the eastern Batticaloa district. The Attorney General had filed 23,270 charges, including under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act, for conspiring to murder, aiding and abetting, collecting arms and ammunition, and attempted murder, against the accused persons.
Also read: The inside story of the 9 suicide bombers behind Sri Lanka’s savage Easter attacks
A three-judge bench found that 14 of the accused were guilty on all charges, while a 15th defendant was found guilty of only some of the charges. Nine others were acquitted, local media reported.
The case is one of many being pursued in connection with the suicide bomb attacks, carried out by a network of Islamist radicals. According to Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, over 40 criminal and more than 280 civil cases were filed in connection with the 2019 attacks.
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The verdict comes even as senior investigators pursue a high-profile, sensitive probe into the possible links that the suicide bombers’ network had with members of Sri Lankan state agencies. In February this year, Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department arrested former intelligence chief Major General (Retd.) Suresh Sallay in connection with the Easter bombings, in what investigators termed a “major breakthrough”. In June 2026, a Sri Lankan court banned former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from foreign travel, citing ongoing investigations. In July this year, a Sri Lanka court sentenced former police chief Pujith Jayasundara to death for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
Ahead of his election in September 2024, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake had pledged justice to the victims of the Easter Terror attacks. On Wednesday [September 23, 2026], Mr. Dissanayake completes two years in office.
Published – September 22, 2026 06:55 pm IST
