Death Penalty Issued to Former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando

Hemasiri Fernando has been sentenced to death by the Colombo Permanent Trial-at-Bar after being found guilty over his failure to prevent the Easter Sunday Attacks in Sri Lanka.

The court determined that Fernando was guilty of criminal dereliction of duty, attempted murder, and murder, citing his failure to act on prior intelligence warnings that could have averted the deadly attacks.

The verdict was delivered by a three-judge bench comprising Justices Priyantha Liyanage, Viraj Weerasuriya, and Tilakarathna Bandara. The ruling forms part of the court’s decision on indictments filed by the Attorney General against Fernando and former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara, who was also sentenced to death earlier the same day.

The case relates to the coordinated Easter Sunday bombings in 2019, which resulted in the deaths of 275 people and left nearly 500 others injured. Prosecutors argued that both officials had failed in their responsibilities despite receiving credible intelligence about the planned attacks.

The legal proceedings have spanned several years. In 2022, a High Court bench acquitted both Fernando and Jayasundara, stating that the prosecution had not sufficiently proven criminal intent and highlighting gaps in the intelligence shared by the State Intelligence Service.

However, the Attorney General appealed the acquittal before the Supreme Court. In November 2024, a five-member bench led by Justice Preethi Padman Surasena overturned the earlier ruling and directed that the trial be reopened to allow for the recording of defence evidence.

Following this directive, the case was reheard before the Colombo Permanent Trial-at-Bar, which ultimately delivered today’s verdict.

The judgment represents a significant development in efforts to establish accountability for one of Sri Lanka’s most tragic incidents in recent history.