Sri Lankan court convicts 15 in 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 270

A three-judge High Court in Colombo convicted 15 of 24 suspects on Tuesday for their role in the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings that claimed 270 lives, including 11 Indians, and injured over 500 others. The court acquitted 9 other defendants. Main suspect Naufar Moulavi was among those convicted after a trial spanning nearly five years.

Nine suicide bombers from the local Islamist group National Thawheed Jamaat, linked to ISIS, carried out coordinated attacks on three Catholic churches and three luxury hotels on April 21, 2019. The accused faced charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for murder, conspiracy, and handling explosives. The trial involved 2,309 witnesses and 23,270 charges.

The attacks triggered political controversy, with then-President Maithripala Sirisena and then-PM Ranil Wickremesinghe criticised for failing to act on prior intelligence. A subsequent presidential inquiry found Sirisena guilty of negligence; he has pleaded not guilty in related proceedings.