Sri Lanka court convicts 15 over deadly Easter Sunday bombings

Nine people were acquitted, while another defendant was found guilty of only some of the charges, the court said.

Security personnel stand guard outside the High Court after escorting the accused involved in Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday attacks of 2019, during the verdict in the trial on September 22, 2026 in Colombo, Sri Lanka [Ishara S Kodikara/AFP]

Sri Lanka’s High Court has convicted 15 of the 24 men accused of being involved in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people, including 45 foreigners, and injured more than 500.

After a five-year trial, the three-judge bench on Tuesday found that 14 of the accused were guilty on all charges, which included murder, conspiracy to commit “terrorism” and possessing firearms and explosives under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

A 15th defendant was found guilty of only some of the charges, while nine others were acquitted.

All of the accused are from Sri Lanka’s minority Muslim community. Twenty-five men were originally charged, but one defendant died in custody.

Among those convicted on all charges was Mohamed Naufar, whom prosecutors identified as the ringleader who provided support to the eight-member squad that carried out the bombings.

The presiding judge told a packed courtroom that sentencing would take place later on Tuesday. Dozens of police commandos provided security outside as the verdicts were read.

Sri Lanka’s Roman Catholic Church welcomed the convictions. “Finally, we have justice,” Catholic priest Jude Fernando told the AFP news agency. “It has taken a long time to get to this point.”

Teresa Fernando, a survivor who suffered head injuries, said no one should have to endure what she had gone through. “We came here today as victims of this attack to receive justice,” she said. “Whatever the court says… we will bow our heads and accept it.”

Attack on hotels, churches

The coordinated bombings in April 2019 were carried out at three luxury hotels and three churches – two of them Catholic and one Protestant.

A parliamentary committee found that police and intelligence officials failed to act on repeated intelligence warnings of the attacks.

Two Sri Lanka-based armed groups were accused of carrying out the bombings.

Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church has claimed, without providing evidence, that those identified so far as perpetrators are not the masterminds behind the bombings, and that there was a bigger conspiracy behind the attacks.

In July, a former police chief and a former senior Defence Ministry official were also sentenced to death for failing to act promptly on foreign intelligence warnings of possible attacks.

法庭表示，九人被判无罪，而另一名被告仅被判部分罪名成立。

2026年9月22日，在斯里兰卡科伦坡，2019年复活节星期日斯里兰卡袭击案的被告在高等法院外接受审判，安保人员在宣判期间护送被告离开。[Ishara S Kodikara/AFP]

斯里兰卡高等法院对 24 名被控参与 2019 年复活节星期日爆炸案的男子中的 15 人定罪，该爆炸案造成 279 人死亡，其中包括 45 名外国人，另有 500 多人受伤。

经过五年的审判，周二，由三名法官组成的合议庭裁定，14 名被告所有罪名成立，其中包括谋杀、串谋实施“恐怖主义”以及根据《防止恐怖主义法》持有枪支和爆炸物。

第 15 名被告被判部分罪名成立，其余 9 名被告被判无罪。

所有被告均来自斯里兰卡的少数族裔穆斯林群体。最初有25名男子被起诉，但其中一名被告在羁押期间死亡。

在所有被定罪的人中，有一位是穆罕默德·瑙法尔，检察官认定他是主谋，为实施爆炸案的八人小组提供了支持。

主审法官向挤满人的法庭宣布，将于周二晚些时候宣判。宣判期间，数十名警察特勤队员在法庭外维持秩序。

斯里兰卡罗马天主教会对判决表示欢迎。天主教神父朱德·费尔南多告诉法新社：“正义终于得到了伸张。我们为此付出了漫长的努力。”

头部受伤的幸存者特蕾莎·费尔南多表示，任何人都不应该遭受她所经历的一切。“我们今天作为这场袭击的受害者来到这里，是为了寻求正义，”她说。“无论法庭如何判决……我们都会低头接受。”

袭击酒店、教堂

2019 年 4 月发生的协同爆炸袭击发生在三家豪华酒店和三座教堂——其中两座是天主教教堂，一座是新教教堂。

议会委员会发现，警方和情报官员未能对多次有关袭击的情报警告采取行动。

两个总部位于斯里兰卡的武装组织被指控实施了爆炸袭击。

斯里兰卡天主教会声称，在没有提供证据的情况下，目前已确认的肇事者并非爆炸案的幕后主使，袭击背后存在更大的阴谋。

7 月，一名前警察局长和一名前国防部高级官员也因未能及时对外国情报机构发出的可能袭击的警告采取行动而被判处死刑。