Sri Lanka's Catholic Church head welcomes court ruling on 2019 Easter Sunday attacks

The head of the local Catholic Church in Sri Lanka Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith on Friday welcomed as ''significant'' the Supreme Court ruling that ordered former President Maithripala Sirisena to pay rupees 100 million as compensation to the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

The apex court on Thursday ordered Sirisena and four top former officials to pay a total of 310 million rupees as compensation to the victims of the attack for their negligence in preventing the country's one of the worst terror strikes despite having credible intelligence from India of an imminent attack.

Nine suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three Catholic churches and as many luxury hotels on April 21, 2019, killing nearly 270 people, including 11 Indians, and injuring over 500.

The seven-member bench also ruled that the respondents named in 12 petitions filed for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter attacks had violated the fundamental rights of the petitioners.

“This ruling would show that no matter how high their position is, they must be answerable and be held accountable,'' Ranjith told reporters.

The court ruling was significant for all who respect justice in the country, Ranjith said.

Alongside Sirisena, then police chief Pujith Jayasundera, and the then director of state intelligence Nilantha Jayawardena have been ordered to pay 75 million rupees each while the then top defence ministry bureaucrat Hemasiri Fernando was ordered to pay 50 million rupees.

Sisira Mendis, the then head of police intelligence was ordered to pay 10 million rupees.

They were ordered to pay from their personal funds to a fund for the victims maintained by the office of reparations.

Ranjith said the court ruling had highlighted the negligence of those responsible for the attack that left 270 people dead.

He said his fight to bring justice to the victims would continue by repeating his charge that investigations into the attack had been tardy.

While investigations have been scuttled the higher officers who are responsible have been recommended for promotions, Ranjith alleged.

The attack stirred a political storm as then President Sirisena and then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were blamed for their inability to prevent the attacks despite prior intelligence being made available.

As many as 12 petitioners, including the kin of the victims, the Catholic clergy, and the lawyers’ body Bar Association of Sri Lanka, filed the fundamental rights petition against the then president for his negligence in preventing the attacks that proved fatal for the island nation's economy primarily dependent on tourism.

A presidential panel of inquiry appointed by Sirisena after the attacks ironically found the then-president guilty of his failure to prevent the attacks.

Sirisena, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge in the case filed after the panel's findings.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)