A court in Sri Lanka has convicted 15 men over their alleged involvement in the 2019 Easter bombings and sentenced each of them to at least 200 years in prison, effectively ensuring they will remain behind bars for the rest of their lives.

The coordinated suicide bombings on April 21, 2019, targeted three churches and three hotels during Easter celebrations. The attacks killed 267 people and injured nearly 600 others, making them among the deadliest acts of violence in Sri Lanka’s history.

The bombings were inspired by the Islamic State (IS) group and were attributed to two Sri Lanka-based Islamist militant organisations.

The verdict was delivered by a three-judge High Court panel following a trial that lasted nearly five years. Hundreds of police officers were deployed around the courthouse as the judgment was read.

The court also ordered the confiscation of property belonging to the convicted defendants, all of whom came from Sri Lanka’s minority Muslim community.

Authorities filed 23,270 charges against 25 suspects in 2021. The allegations included murder, conspiracy to commit terrorism, and offences involving firearms and explosives under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

None of the individuals believed to have directly carried out the bombings survived. During the trial, nine defendants were acquitted after the court ruled that the charges against them had not been proven. Another defendant died before the case reached trial.

The sentences varied according to the defendants’ alleged roles. Five men were sentenced to 200 years each, five received 220 years, four were sentenced to 240 years each, and one received a 260-year sentence.

The court considered all seven explosions when determining the sentences. Three blasts occurred at churches, three targeted tourist hotels, and another took place at a motel where a suspected attacker killed himself and two other people after abandoning plans to attack a fourth hotel.

Prosecutors argued that the defendants were involved in a carefully planned operation intended to kill Christian worshippers and tourists. They pointed to a video recorded by one of the suicide bombers shortly before the attacks.

In the recording, the attackers were shown with their faces covered, carrying rifles and swords and pledging allegiance to then-IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The attackers spoke of establishing an Islamic state in Sri Lanka and waging violence toward that goal.

One of the convicted men, Mohamed Ibrahim Saadiq Abdulla, who received a 240-year sentence with hard labour, maintained that only he and God knew the truth about his actions.

Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church has previously alleged that those identified as perpetrators were not the masterminds behind the attacks and that a wider conspiracy may have been involved. The claim has not been supported by evidence in the report.

A parliamentary investigation also found that police and intelligence officials had failed to act on repeated warnings about the possibility of attacks.

In July, a former police chief and a former senior defence ministry official were sentenced to death for failing to respond promptly to foreign intelligence warnings about potential attacks.

Sri Lanka has not carried out an execution since 1976, meaning death sentences in the country generally result in imprisonment for life.

SOURCE: The Guardian, Associated Press, September 23, 2026.