COLOMBO (UCAN): On January 12, the Supreme Court in Sri Lanka ordered former president, Maithripala Sirisena, as well as top defense ministry and intelligence officials, to pay compensation totaling 310 million rupees [$6.61 million] to victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings [Sunday Examiner, 28 April 2019].
The court order pointed to a “reckless” intelligence failure, reported The Hindu. “A Victim Fund must be established at the Office for Reparation, which must formulate a scheme to award the sums ordered as compensation in a fair and equitable manner to the victims and families,” the order noted.
Former inspector general of Police, Pujith Jayasundara, former Ministry of Defense secretary, Hemasiri Fernando, former head of State Intelligence Service, Nilantha Jayawardene, and former National Intelligence chief, Sisira Mendis, are among those directed to pay.
Sirisena was ordered to pay 100 million rupees [$2.13 million] while the other officials were to pay a total of 210 million rupees [$4.47 million]. The compensation must be paid from their personal funds.
The Supreme Court also ordered the federal government to pay one million rupees [$21,330] compensation to each of the victims.
…the Supreme Court in Sri Lanka ordered former president, Maithripala Sirisena, as well as top defense ministry and intelligence officials, to pay compensation totaling 310 million rupees [$6.61 million] to victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings
Father Sarath Iddamalgoda, one of a dozen petitioners in the case, said political leaders think they can do anything illegal but the judgment was a reminder that nobody is above the law. The 78-year-old said that he couldn’t have wished for a better gift on his 78th birthday [January 12].
“As a priest, I tried to seek justice for the victims. But the mastermind behind the attack has not yet been traced. We are waiting for him to be caught,” Father Iddamalgoda said.
Brito Fernando, a human rights activist, called the court’s decision “a huge victory” for the Easter Sunday victims and those like him who are fighting for their rights.
Father Jude Chrisantha, archdiocesan director of mass communications in Colombo, hoped the judgment would ensure that political leaders and government officials would not shun responsibility.
Sri Lanka witnessed serial blasts across churches and luxury hotels in the capital Colombo, nearby Negombo, and the eastern city of Batticaloa on 21 April 2019. A total of 279 people died and some 500 were injured in the incident that shook the island on Easter Sunday.
The Supreme Court order is significant for the survivors and families of those who died in the blast while the investigations are still ongoing.
The Catholic Church has been highly critical of the lack of progress in the probe. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith of Colombo has repeatedly raised the issue alleging that the incident was “not purely a work of extremists, but a grand political plot.”
