COLOMBO – Sri Lankan prosecutors on Monday indicted the alleged mastermind of the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings, along with 24 men whom they said were co-conspirators in the island’s worst single terror assault.
Almost 300 people, including dozens of foreign nationals, were killed in the April 21 attacks on three churches and three luxury hotels, in a wave of killings targeting the nation’s Christian community.
Prosecutors have brought over 20,000 charges against the suspects, three of whom have already been accused of terrorism by the United States Justice Department.
The suspects are in police custody, but one of them did not appear in court on Monday as he has contracted Covid-19, said officials, adding that hearings will begin on November 23.
Prosecutors told the court that US and Australian forensic experts assisted investigators in tracking down the backers of the eight-member suicide squad responsible for the attacks.
Sri Lankan authorities have accused their ringleader Mohamed Naufar of masterminding the deadly suicide bombings and being a member of the Islamic State terror group.
Former police chief Pujith Jayasundara and top defence official Hemasiri Fernando are also being prosecuted separately for failing to act on repeated intelligence warnings of a possible IS attack.
An inquiry set up by former president Maithripala Sirisena found that he, too, was responsible for failing to prevent the attack, and should be prosecuted.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, head of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, has repeatedly said he is unhappy with the lack of progress in the inquiry into the Easter bombings. – AFP, October 7, 2021
