Arabic version: سريلانكا تدين 15 شخصاً بتفجيرات عيد الفصح

According to ABC News, Sri Lanka’s High Court has convicted 15 men over the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, the country’s deadliest in recent history. More than 260 people were killed and more than 500 were injured in attacks on churches and luxury tourist hotels.

The bombings struck three churches and three hotels. Two Australians, Manik Suriaaratchi and her 10-year-old daughter, Alexendria, were among those killed when a bomb exploded inside a church in Negombo, north of Colombo.

A three-judge bench delivered its decision on Tuesday after a five-year trial. Fourteen of the 24 men accused of direct involvement were convicted on charges including murder and conspiracy to commit terrorism. Nine were acquitted, while another man was found guilty of only some charges. Sentencing will take place at a later date.

Authorities filed more than 23,000 charges in 2021 against suspects accused of planning or inspiring the attacks. None of the people believed to have directly carried out the bombings are alive. The attacks were carried out by Islamic State-inspired terrorists.

In July, former police chief Pujith Jayasundara and former defence ministry secretary Hemasiri Fernando were sentenced to death for failing to prevent the bombings. The court heard that an Indian intelligence agency had warned Sri Lanka weeks earlier of a possible suicide attack by Islamist extremists, but authorities did not act. Sri Lanka has not carried out the death penalty since 1976, and the pair were expected to serve life sentences instead.