The Supreme Court ordered top government and security officials at the time of the massacre to pay compensation to the families for failing to do what was necessary to prevent it. Lawyers who had raised the issue claimed it was a landmark ruling.
Colombo () – The Supreme Court yesterday ordered the high command of the State to compensate the victims of the 2019 Easter attacks, in which 269 people died and more than 500 were injured. The warrant targets former Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, former Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara, former Defense Minister Hemasiri Fernando and former security directors Nilantha Jayawardena and Sisira Mendis, all of whom were found guilty of failing to prevented the massacre.
Specifically, the Supreme Court has ordered former President Maithripala Sirisena to pay a sum of 100 million rupees (about 250,000 euros) as compensation to the victims. The police chief and the former head of foreign intelligence services will have to pay 75 million rupees (188 thousand euros), the former defense minister 50 million rupees (125 thousand euros), and the former head of internal security services 10 million rupees (25 thousand euros).
The verdict was handed down by a panel of seven judges on the basis of 13 petitions submitted by the victims of the attack, Catholic priests and the Sri Lankan Bar Association. The judges recognized that the State must pay fair compensation for the pain, agony, anguish, suffering and destruction suffered by the victims and their families. The amounts must be added to the compensation that the State was willing to pay by its own decision and on which a report was requested from the State Attorney General’s Office.
Lawyer Jagath Gamini Perera, who is representing the plaintiffs, said the ruling was historic and could not be changed.
