Sri Lanka’s High Court on Tuesday (September 22, 2206) convicted 14 of the 24 men for being directly involved in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people.

The three-judge Bench 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.

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

The presiding Judge told a packed court that sentencing would be done later on Tuesday (September 22, 2026). Dozens of police commandos provided security outside as the verdicts were read.

The men were accused of aiding and abetting the suicide bombers who struck three luxury hotels and three churches on April 21, 2019, killing 279 people, including 45 foreigners.

Local media has said some could face the death penalty, although Sri Lanka has not carried out an execution since 1976 and capital punishment is typically commuted to life imprisonment.

In 2021, authorities filed 23,270 charges against 24 suspects accused of planning or inspiring the attacks. The charges included murder, conspiracy to commit terrorism and firearms and explosives offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. None of those believed to have directly participated in the attacks are alive.

Twenty-five men were originally charged, but one defendant died in custody. Investigators blamed the attack on a homegrown Islamist extremist group.

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

‘Mastermind’ spy boss

Three of the defendants were also charged by U.S. authorities with terrorism-related offences linked to the bombings in December 2020.

Five Americans were among those killed, including a U.S. Commerce Department employee who was in Colombo on official business.

Other foreigners killed include citizens of Australia, Bangladesh, China, Denmark, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Britain.

The trial has unfolded against the backdrop of a separate and highly sensitive investigation into allegations that elements within the Sri Lankan state may have had links to those responsible for the attacks.

Former intelligence chief Suresh Sallay is in custody facing accusations that he had orchestrated the bombings, allegations he denies.

Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Parliament in June that investigators believed he had worked with Islamist extremists before the bombings were carried out.

Investigators said the network was cultivated to manufacture a security threat that would in turn bolster political support for the Rajapaksa family, which returned to power several months after the attack with Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election as president.

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According to court filings, investigators believed the objective was to create chaos and present Mr. Rajapaksa, a former defence chief, as the leader best placed to restore security.

He was credited by supporters with crushing Tamil separatist rebels in 2009 after a decades-long civil war. The Rajapaksa family dominated Sri Lankan politics for nearly two decades, but its camp has rejected allegations of state involvement.

A Sri Lankan court on Wednesday (June 3, 2026) imposed an overseas travel ban on former President Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksaand two former military officers in connection with ongoing investigations into the 2019 Easter attack.

The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court issued the order after considering a motion filed by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is probing the coordinated suicide bombings that targeted churches and luxury hotels across the island nation on April 21, 2019, that killed 270 people, including 11 Indians.

The travel restrictions also apply to Army Colonel Mohamed Ansar and former intelligence officer Premananda Udalagama, also known as Silva.

Magistrate Pasan Amarasekara issued the order when the case involving former State Intelligence Service director Suresh Sallay was taken up before the court.

Mr. Sallay, who has been named as a suspect in the proceedings, is being held under detention orders after his arrest on Thursday (February 25, 2026) as part of efforts to identify the alleged mastermind behind the attacks.

Mr. Sallay was serving in a diplomatic position overseas when the attack took place. He headed the state intelligence service under the then- President Percy Mahinda Rajapaksa government prior to 2015.

Police told the court that ongoing investigations could be hampered if Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the two military officers were to flee the country.

2019 allegations

Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the younger brother of former President Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, announced his candidacy for the presidency shortly after the bombings and went on to win the November 2019 election.

Investigators have alleged that the Easter attacks may have been exploited to create a climate of insecurity that benefited Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidential campaign, though no such allegations have been proven in court.

Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was forced to resign in July 2022 amid mass protests over Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in decades, with critics accusing his administration of economic mismanagement and corruption.

He has repeatedly denied any involvement in a conspiracy linked to the bombings.

Sri Lanka’s security lapses

The Easter attack, carried out by the local Islamist extremist group National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ), linked to ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), targeted three churches and 3 luxury hotels in Colombo and other parts of the country.

It exposed serious lapses in Sri Lanka’s security apparatus, as the then government led by President Maithripala Yapa Sirisena was accused of inaction to prevent the attacks despite prior intelligence warnings shared by India about an imminent terrorist strike.

The current National People’s Power (NPP) government, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, reopened the Easter terror attack investigations in late 2024, stating that political influence had earlier led to a cover-up.

The catholic church in the Buddhist-majority country had also expressed its concerns over the investigations, which they branded as a political cover-up to protect the powerful who could have masterminded the attack.