On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ordered former president Maithripala Sirisena, along with four other former officials, to compensate victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombing.
In the wake of the devastating terror attack on the island nation that killed nearly 270 people, the jury has flagged the executive’s “reckless” intelligence negligence.
The seven-judge bench has ordered the former President, who then served as a defense minister and commander in chief of the armed forces of the island nation, to pay 100 million rupees (estimated around $ 273,300) to family members of victims from his personal funds.
In addition, the police chief, two top intelligence officials, and the secretary to the ministry of defense at the time were ordered to pay a sum of 210 million rupees (around $574,000) to the family members of the victims.
The apex court of Sri Lanka has observed: “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 their families.” (The Hindu)
Furthermore, it states that the court must be notified six months after the payment of compensation.
The bench noted that Easter Sunday was still weeks away when the intel about the imminent attack came from India. However, the authorities failed to show alertness to carry out any measures to avert the attack.
Therefore, the court noted: “All this is a stark reality that strikes this court as a serious omission on the part of the then-president.”
“This dismal failure on the part of former President Sirisena resulted in disastrous consequences for this country. Not only were lives lost and properties destroyed, but inter-racial tension and interethnic hatred began to raise their ugly heads, causing the very fabric of this nation to be broken,” it said. (Aljazeera)