Courtesy Hindustan Times

Colombo, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered former President Maithripala Sirisena to settle the full payment of compensation to the victims of the 2019 Easter terror attacks before August 30.

Sirisena informed the Supreme Court that, out of the ₹100 million ordered to be paid as compensation for the victims of the Easter attack, Rs. 58 million has already been paid and he also requested for six years for the remaining amount to be paid.

In 2019, over 270 people, including 11 Indians, were killed when suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat linked to ISIS carried out a series of blasts that tore through three churches and as many luxury hotels in Sri Lanka on the Easter Sunday.

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered Sirisena to pay the outstanding compensation to the victims of the Easter attacks before August 30.

In January 2023, the Supreme Court ordered Sirisena, the then president, and his police and defence hierarchy to pay compensation to the victims in a fundamental rights petition.

The Supreme Court ruled that the respondents named in the Fundamental Rights petitions 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 ₹100 million, former police chief Jayasundara & former State Intelligence Services chief Jayawardene were ordered to pay a compensation of Rs. 75 million each, ex-defence secretary Fernando to pay a compensation of Rs. 50 Million.

Former National Intelligence Service chief Mendis was ordered by the court 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.