Sri Lankan court frees two officials charged over 2019 blasts

A Sri Lankan court has freed two top former officials who were charged with negligence in connection with 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks that killed 260 people

Sri Lanka Easter Attacks (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

A Sri Lankan court on Friday freed two top former officials who had been charged with negligence in connection with 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks that killed 260 people.

Former police chief Pujitha Jayasundara and former Secretary to the Ministry of Defense Hemasiri Fernando were released by the high court from charges that they failed to prevent the deadly attacks despite receiving near-specific intelligence warnings from foreign agencies prior to the attacks.

Officials have charged dozens of others who are alleged to have received weapons training and participated in indoctrination classes from the two local Islamic extremist groups accused of carrying out the attacks.

The groups had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.

Three churches and three luxury hotels were targeted by suicide bombers on April 21, 2019, killing worshippers at Easter services and locals and foreigners having breakfast at the hotels.

Friction between the country’s president and prime minister — who belonged to different political parties — was blamed for the government’s failure to act on the intelligence warnings.

Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has repeatedly blamed President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's government for not taking action against former President Maithripala Sirisena and other top officials for failing to prevent the attacks.

Ranjith has said the true conspirators in the attacks could still be at large and questioned the government over allegations that some members of state intelligence knew and had met with at least one attacker.

Police this week arrested Catholic activist Shehan Malaka Gamage, who alleged that some politicians and officials may have deliberately failed to act on intelligence ahead of the 2019 attacks as they looked ahead to that year’s national elections.

A court later released him on bail.