Failure to prevent Easter carnage: AG indicts Hemasiri, Pujith, in Colombo High Court, for murder

By A.J.A. Abeynayake

Attorney General Dappula de Livera yesterday indicted, in the Colombo High Court, former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando and former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara on 800 charges over the Easter Sunday terror attacks.

The AG’s Coordinating Officer State Counsel Nishara Jayaratne said the charges had been filed in respect of those killed and injured in the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

Fernando and Jayasundara would face two separate trials-at-bar for murder and attempted murder over the attacks, she said.

According to the State Counsel Hemasiri Fernando and Pujith Jayasundara had been indicted for their serious lapses and grave omissions to prevent the Easter Sunday bombings.

Hemasiri Fernando served as the Defence Secretary while Pujith Jayasundara was the Inspector General of Police (IGP) at the time of the attacks.

The final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry that probed the attacks implicated both Fernando and Jayasundara over the attacks.

They were accused of failing to prevent the attacks despite receiving intelligence warnings.

Fernando and Jayasundara were arrested in September 2019 in connection with the attacks. They were later enlarged on bail.