Supreme Court orders Sirisena to complete compensation payments to Easter attack victims before Aug 30
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on Monday (15) ordered former President Maithripala Sirisena to settle the full payment of compensation to the victims of the 2019 Easter terror attacks before August 30, denying a request by Sirisena’s lawyers to extend the payment period by six years.
In making the request Sirisena’s lawyers told the Court that Rs 58 million of the Rs 100 million mandated to be granted as compensation for the Easter attack victims had already been paid. However, the Supreme Court rejected the request and ordered the payment to be completed before August 30.
In 2019, over 270 people, including 45 foreign nationals, were killed when suicide bombers belonging to the Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jama’at carried out a series of blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.
Eleven rights petitioners took action under Article 126 of the Sri Lankan Constitution over the authorities’ inaction, alleging their fundamental rights were violated.
The petitioners alleged that Sirisena and others had betrayed the people and public trust by recklessly failing to take cognisance of and accord due priority to intelligence information received regarding the premeditation of the attacks, which could have been prevented if proactive and timely response had been taken.
In January 2023, the Supreme Court ordered Sirisena, the then president, and his police and defence hierarchy to pay compensation to the victims, finding the respondents named in the Fundamental Rights petitions guilty for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, despite having credible information of an imminent attack, had violated the fundamental rights of the petitioners.
The respondents named in the petitions were former president Sirisena, former defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former police chief Pujith Jayasundara, ex-National Intelligence Service chief Sisira Mendis, and former State Intelligence Services chief Nilantha Jayawardena.
The court ordered former president Sirisena to pay a compensation of Rs 100 million, while former police chief Jayasundara and former State Intelligence Services chief Jayawardene were ordered to pay Rs 75 million each, ex-defence secretary Fernando Rs 50 Million.
Former National Intelligence Service chief Mendis was ordered to pay a compensation of Rs 10 Million.
The Supreme Court said that all these funds need to be collected and used to compensate the victims of the 2019 Easter attacks.
The deadline to complete the relevant compensation payments was originally set for July 12, 2023.
-ENCL
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