Colombo, Sri Lanka
CNN
—
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on Thursday found former president Maithripala Sirisena and four other senior government officials responsible for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter bombings that killed at least 290 people and injured hundreds. certified.
Seven judges ruled that Sirisena was negligent because he failed to prevent the tragedy, even though he had reliable information warning of the attack.
The court ordered Sirisena to pay the victim’s family $273,300 from his personal funds. Other officials were ordered to pay a total of $574,000. The court also ordered the damages office to establish a victims fund to “investigate suspected underpayment or nonpayment” of compensation.
He also instructed the government to “take appropriate disciplinary action” for the “mistakes and failures” of former Director of National Intelligence Nilantha Jayawardena.
The verdict comes more than three years after the series of bombs that struck churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. Several of these bombs exploded inside churches during Easter services in three cities. Sri Lankan Christians make up less than 10% of the country’s population.
Shortly after the attack, the Sri Lankan government admitted that it had failed to respond to multiple warnings from intelligence agencies. India and the United States.
Days after the attack, Sri Lanka’s intelligence services said they believed the bomber was innocent. Link to ISIS.
The trials of 25 men accused of plotting the blast were postponed last year, and the court has yet to reach a verdict.
