Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The Colombo High Court has fixed September 22 for the verdict in the main criminal case linked to Sri Lanka’s 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, in which 279 people were killed, including 45 foreigners.
The verdict will cover 24 accused in the case. A three-member trial bench announced the date on Monday after proceedings that ran for 547 days and heard evidence from 2,309 witnesses.
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The Easter Sunday bombings were a series of coordinated suicide attacks on churches and luxury hotels in the island nation in 2019. At least 25 people were initially charged over their alleged role in the attacks, but after one suspect died, 24 were indicted in October 2021.
The attacks were carried out by the local jihadi group NTJ, which targeted three main churches and three leading five-star hotels in Colombo. Mohammadu Ebrahim Mohammdu Naufer, also known as Naufer Moulavi, was named as the principal suspect.
Investigators also examined Naufer’s links to extremist Zaharan Hashim, the leader of the Muslim radical group. Hashim was one of the suicide bombers and carried out the blast at the Shangri La Hotel.
Earlier this month, former police chief Pujith Jayasundera and Hemasiri Fernando, who was then the top bureaucrat in the Ministry of Defence, were sentenced to death after being found guilty of criminal dereliction of duty for failing to act on prior intelligence that could have prevented the attacks.
In 2023, former president Maithripala Sirisena and the top defence hierarchy were also ordered to pay compensation worth multiple millions of rupees to the families of the victims in verdicts on fundamental rights petitions. With the main criminal case now nearing its end, the court is set to deliver its ruling on September 22.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
