Former Sri Lanka president Sirisena settles compensation for Easter Sunday bombings victims

Colombo: Sri Lanka's former president Maithripala Sirisena has settled in full the SLR 100 million compensation for the victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings that killed 270 people, including 11 Indians, during his tenure.

Sirisena, 72, was ordered by the Supreme Court to pay SLRs 100 million as compensation to victims for his negligence in preventing the country’s one of the worst terror strikes despite having credible information of an imminent attack.

His lawyers said the full payment of rupees 100 million was completed on August 16. Nine suicide bombers belonging to local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three Catholic churches and as many luxury hotels on April 21, 2019, killing nearly 270 people, including 11 Indians, and injuring over 500. Sirisena was also the minister of defence at that time.

The attack stirred a political storm as the then President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe were blamed for their inability to prevent the attacks despite prior intelligence being made available.

In mid-July, Sirisena reported to the court that he had already paid SLR 58 million and pleaded for six more months to pay the balance of 42 million.

A presidential panel of inquiry appointed by Sirisena after the attacks ironically found the then-president guilty of his failure to prevent the attacks.