Judgment Day For Pujith & Hemasiri In Easter Attacks Case

COLOMBO (News 1st); The long-running legal proceedings against former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando over the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks are set to reach a decisive stage today, with the Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar scheduled to deliver its verdicts in the two separate cases.

The two former top state officials were indicted on several charges, including criminal negligence and dereliction of duty, for allegedly failing to take necessary steps to prevent the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks despite receiving intelligence warnings that such an attack was imminent.

The cases originate from allegations that the accused failed to act on intelligence information regarding the planned attacks, resulting in one of the deadliest terrorist incidents in Sri Lanka's history.

The verdict dates were fixed after the conclusion of proceedings in the respective cases. Hearings in the case against former IGP Pujith Jayasundara concluded on June 12, while proceedings in the case against former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando were concluded on June 13, paving the way for today's judgments.

The trials were heard before a three-judge Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar bench comprising Priyantha Liyanage, Viraj Weerasuriya and Thilakarathna Bandara.

On February 18, 2022, the then Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar acquitted both accused without calling for their defence after considering the evidence presented by the prosecution.

Following that decision, the Attorney General filed appeals before the Supreme Court, arguing that the acquittals were contrary to law and seeking to have the judgments set aside.

Subsequently, the Supreme Court ordered fresh proceedings, leading to the retrial of the cases before the present Trial-at-Bar bench.