A court in Sri Lanka has sentenced former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara and former Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Hemasiri Fernando to death for criminal negligence that led to the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in 2019. This was reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP), writes UNN.
Details
The court found that both officials failed to fulfill their duty to prevent the attacks, despite warnings about possible terrorist acts. A few weeks before the bombings, Indian intelligence had provided Sri Lankan authorities with information about the preparation of the attacks.
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On April 21, 2019, nine explosions occurred almost simultaneously, targeting three tourist hotels and three Christian churches. The attacks killed about 300 people and injured more than 500.
The convicted may appeal the sentence
The court concluded that Pujith Jayasundara and Hemasiri Fernando demonstrated criminal negligence by failing to take necessary measures to prevent the terrorist attacks.
At the same time, the verdict has not yet become final, as the convicted have the right to appeal it to the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
Despite the death sentence, in practice this punishment in Sri Lanka means life imprisonment. Executions have not been carried out in the country for about 50 years.
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