Former Sri Lanka police chief Pujith Jayasundara at St. Anthony's church, one of the sites hit by the Easter Sunday explosions, in 2019. ( AP: Eranga Jayawardena )
A Sri Lanka court has sentenced a former police chief and a former defence ministry official to death over the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
More than 260 people died in the attacks, including two Australians.
Pujith Jayasundara and Hemasiri Fernando can appeal against their sentence in the Supreme Court.
A Sri Lanka court has sentenced a former police chief and a former defence ministry official to death for failing to prevent the deadly 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
The attacks by Islamic State-inspired terrorists on three churches and three luxury tourist hotels killed more than 260 people, including two Australians.
Australians Manik Suriaaratchi and her daughter, Alexendria, lost their lives when a bomb exploded inside a church in Negombo, just north of the capital, Colombo.
Manik Suriaaratchi and her 10-year-old daughter, Alexendria, were killed in the 2019 bomb blasts in Sri Lanka. ( Facebook: Fahim Mawjood )
The bombings, which were considered the deadliest in Sri Lanka's recent history, also injured more than 500 people.
In a majority decision on Friday, a three-judge court ruled that former police chief Pujith Jayasundara and former defence ministry secretary Hemasiri Fernando failed in their duties to stop the deadly attacks.
The court heard that an Indian intelligence agency had weeks earlier alerted Sri Lanka to a possible suicide attack by Islamist extremists, but authorities failed to take action.
Jayasundara, 66, and Fernando, 76, can appeal against the sentence in the Supreme Court, but have been remanded in custody until granted bail.
Despite being sentenced to death, Sri Lanka has not carried out the death penalty since 1976, and it is likely the pair will serve a life sentence instead.
St. Sebastian's Church was damaged in the blast in Negombo. ( AP: Chamila Karunarathne )
Fernando and Jayasundara were arrested in 2019 and held in custody for four months before being released on bail.
The two former officials were acquitted of the same charges by a three-judge High Court bench in 2022.
Under a previous civil action, they had to pay 125 million rupees ($531,800) as damages to survivors of the attack.
Prosecutors had earlier told the High Court that "negligence" by the two top officials amounted to "grave crimes against humanity" and laid murder charges against them.
But a fresh trial began in March after the Supreme Court ordered the case be heard again.
Sri Lanka's President, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who was elected in 2024, had pledged to hold those responsible for the wrongdoing to account.
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