Sri Lanka court convicts 14 men over 2019 Easter bombings

Sri Lanka's High Court has convicted 14 of the 24 men accused of being directly involved in the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed 279 people.

The three-judge bench read out its decision after a five-year trial and said sentencing would take place later. The charges included murder and conspiracy to commit terrorism.

Nine others were acquitted, while another defendant was found guilty of only some of the charges, the court said.

Bombers struck three luxury hotels and three churches on 21 April 2019, killing 279 people including 45 foreigners. Investigators blame the attack on a homegrown Islamist extremist group.

Police said extraordinary security measures would be in place around the court complex ahead of the verdict, the first time anyone is sentenced over direct involvement in the attack.

The trial has already made legal history in Sri Lanka, with prosecutors filing 23,270 charges, the highest number ever brought in a single case.

The charges include murder, conspiracy to commit terrorism and possessing firearms and explosives under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

All defendants had denied involvement.

'Mastermind' spy boss

Three of the defendants currently in Sri Lankan custody were also charged by US authorities with terrorism-related offences linked to the bombings in December 2020.

Five Americans were among the dead, including a US Commerce Department employee who was in Colombo on official business.

Other people killed include citizens of Australia, Bangladesh, China, Denmark, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Britain.

The trial unfolded against the backdrop of a separate and highly sensitive investigation into allegations that elements within the Sri Lankan state may have had links to those responsible for the attacks.

Former intelligence chief Suresh Sallay is in custody facing accusations that he had orchestrated the bombings, allegations he denies.

Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told parliament in June that investigators believed Mr Sallay was the "mastermind" behind the attacks and had worked with Islamist extremists before the bombings were carried out.

Investigators allege the network was cultivated to manufacture a security threat that would in turn bolster political support for the Rajapaksa family, which returned to power several months after the attack with Gotabaya Rajapaksa's election as president.

According to court filings, investigators believe the objective was to create chaos and present Mr Rajapaksa, a former defence chief credited by supporters with crushing Tamil separatist rebels in 2009, as the leader best placed to restore security.

The Rajapaksa camp, supporting the once powerful family that dominated Sri Lankan politics for nearly two decades, has rejected allegations of state involvement.

Successive Mr Rajapaksa administrations have acknowledged using Islamist militants as intelligence assets during a decades-long civil war that ended in 2009.

But supporters maintain the militants had double-crossed their handlers and carried out the 2019 attack independently.